Putting Fire Service on warning must translate across all Gov’t institutions

Dear Editor,

President Dr. Irfaan Ali was ‘spot on’ when he described the Guyana Fire Service’s (GFS’s) response to the Brickdam Police Station fire as “poor at its best.” He hopefully will back up his word and make good that “…things will have to be shaken up.” The President lamented that “To say I’m not bothered would not be a true reflection of how I’m thinking. Bothered because this is not the first public asset we have lost. Now the investigation into this fire will go on, and we will hear about the results.” Hopefully too, we will have a thorough and independent investigation.

What we have accepted for too long must come to an end. I take note that there is now, quite belatedly, a huge emphasis on the dumping. I need not mention other areas that have lapsed into a state of unconcern, as I want to talk about what recently took place with the Brickdam Police Station.

As we all know, for a long time now, the Guyana Fire Service’s responses to fires have been nil or too late. Seldom have the GFS’s responses been prompt and efficient. Add to this, that many times, limited or no water availability has aided in poor performance. During this month, along the East Coast of Demerara, refuge heaps were being burnt and smoke was billowing. I called the GFS, and the expected took place – no response – just that my call was acknowledged. Last year, I made a call regarding a fire threatening two houses. The fire had started to consume a very brittle fence and coconut tree, and yet again, the call was acknowledged, but no one showed up, nor was an inquiry made. Luckily, a neighbour came with a power washer, and aided admirably.

The Fire Brigade Union (UK), in a recent presentation, notes the importance of emergency response in fighting fires. It states that “The primary purpose of the fire and rescue service is the prompt and efficient mobilisation of firefighters in response to a fire or other related incident, in order to save lives and protect property, as this is a key aspect of public safety.” However, at least in the UK, for some strange reason, response times have worsened significantly over the last decade.

One major reason the response must be as swift as possible is that at times, irretrievable ‘loss and damage’ must be contained, so that buildings and lives, contiguous with the actual fire will be protected. The response time, when delayed unnecessarily means that strategy will be compromised, as early assessment and deployment are vital elements in firefighting. As we saw and read, the Guyana Fire Service was almost a no-show.

Like we all know, and especially of recent, Guyana has been indeed making tremendous investments in the Fire Service, and the President stated that “In this country, people will have to be held accountable for their actions. We cannot be making investment in state apparatus and state institutions and do not get the results from those investments. The response (of) the Fire Service was poor at its best yesterday.” He was direct and poignant, and I think some ‘heads will roll’ as they should.

He added that “As President, I hope the Fire Service can acknowledge this, because if you’ve acknowledged the problem, you can deal with it. It upsets me, because Minister (Robeson) Benn will tell you the type of investment we’re making.” What was most reprehensible was the GFS Head, Fire Chief Kalamodeen Edoo, turning up on the scene in civilian clothing, and President Ali, as expected, noticed this and stated that the providing of officers with safety gear meant that “… they (the Govt) cannot sit back and watch them arriving on scene without the gear.”

“It means that you are not in any state of readiness to respond to an emergency. It means, from a personal level, you’re not taking the job that you’re entrusted to do with the level of seriousness that is necessary. When you’re part of an emergency service, you’re entrusted with certain responsibilities,” he said, and more so that the Fire Service’s headquarters are located just a stone’s throw away from the Brickdam Police Station, and yet there were huge issues with the response of the unit.

Noting that the President boldly stated that “inefficiency in the public service will have to be weeded out,” I hope that he will turn his attention to every sector and ‘check-in’ on what is happening. Putting the Fire Service on warning must translate across all Government institutions – weed out the lazy, unqualified and delinquents.

Yours truly,

 P.Mann