Bumidang: An Android Mobile Application for Broadcasting Fire Alerts in Baguio City

In Baguio City, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) faces issues with insufficient firefighters and fire trucks, limited resources, and inadequate infrastructure, contributing to slower response times, therefore resulting in higher risk rates and slower recovery from fires. This paper describes the development of an Android mobile application called Bumidang that aims to improve the BFP’s response times by utilizing a fire reporting feature for the residents and a broadcast alert system for the BFP. Equipped with geotagging capability, Bumidang delivers an accurate and immediate way of information dissemination in the city during fires, hence enhancing fire safety and encouraging community engagement. Using Scrumban, a combination of Scrum and Kanban, the researchers were able to identify the necessary software development tools to create Bumidang, determine the information requirements to run it, recognize the proper architecture framework to be used, and design the features of the system. It was concluded that: a) the identified information requirements were vital for the application, b) the 4+1 Architectural View Model was helpful in organizing and understanding the requirements and features of the system, c) the system’s unique features integrating emerging technologies were crucial in addressing the needs of the users, and d) the overall weighted mean of 6.126 with a level of agreement of "Agree" shows that users perceive Bumidang as useful, easy to use, easy to learn, and satisfactory to their needs in times of fire emergencies.