Fire chief’s hopes for a ‘cool Yule’

As Barbadians busy themselves beautifying their surroundings, the fire service is hoping that their decorative lights warm hearts not burn houses, as the one of the safest years on record races to its end.

Acting Chief Fire Officer Henderson Patrick said that while he was pleased to report that there were fewer fires of all kinds for 2019, he advised Barbadians to exercise caution at this time of the year.

He said: “Ensure that any item you buy for Christmas has some rigidity to it.

“We buy a lot of Christmas lights and the size of the wiring is insufficient, and therefore is not strong enough to handle the amount of electricity likely to flow through it.

“So we would advise consumers to spend a little more and get a higher quality product.”

But the fire chief warned residents to avoid burning unused items and any debris generated by their renovations.

He said: “One of the things that is a real bugbear this days is indiscriminate burning.

“We still have people in the clean up mode, but instead of using material for mulching or putting it out for the Sanitation Service Authority, they want to burn it.

“It not only creates a nuisance for the neighbours and hurts those relationships, but it causes ill-health for people who already have challenges, and there is always the possibility of it moving from its place of origin to affect others.

“We have had structural fires that came about because of indiscriminate burning, so I would appeal to people to burn less.”

His comments came as he addressed a community outreach initiative undertaken by officers at the St. John Fire Station, who distributed food hampers to elderly and vulnerable people within the station’s catchment area.

In commending the officers for their efforts, he said it formed part of a strategy the Fire Service wanted to execute going forward.

He explained: “In computer language, there is something called a firewall, which prevents people from impacting your assets and protects the assets you have.

“Within our strategic plan, the whole idea will be to build this “firewall”, a safety net around all our citizens in Barbados and the communities we serve.

“However, we cannot do it alone but will need input from everyone in the community and the media to spread the message of remaining safe and carrying out safety procedures.”

The fire chief concluded: “The Barbados Fire Service wants you to enjoy the season, it is a season of peace, of giving and sharing, so it will serve us well to leave the grief out of Christmas.” (DH)