‘People just want to burn stuff’

The Barbados Fire Service has received over a dozen applications to permit household burning but only three have been approved while several remain “under investigation” , Chief Fire Officer Errol Maynard has disclosed.

But the fire chief has hinted that the fire service is coming up against a long-engrained culture of Barbadians who but for their neighbours just want to burn stuff.

He said that of 17 requests for burn permits, three were approved and two were declined.

Maynard made the disclosure as the fire service was conducting a controlled burning exercise on a pasture at Golden Grove, St. Philip, yesterday – one of the three approved applications for a burn permit.

The Fire Service (Fees) Order which came into effect on April 1, requires fire service permits to burn waste at $150 each

“Mr. Austin applied for a burn permit, and we got his permission to use his property as a testing area,” Chief Maynard said.

But while people are following the new guidelines and were seeking permits, he said the reason some gave was simply that “they wanted to burn, but the only problem is the neighbours”

Some householders made requests because they were cleaning properties and heaped leaves and rubbish into piles before seeking permission to burn. But, he stressed that people were encouraged to compost the waste.

“They are asking for legal permission to burn, but we are not entertaining that. You can’t just burn for the sake of burning,” the fire chief stressed, noting that firefighters were giving useful alternatives to burning.

Those, he said, included composting, packaging the material, or sending it to the landfill.

Applicants for permits were walk-ins to the various fire stations, in addition to several calls, said Maynard.

“Some people even come with the money, but it doesn’t work like that because our decision is made based on an interview and after inspection,” he said.

He explained that when fire officers investigated applications to burn, they wanted to determine if alternatives could be used that would have less of an impact on the public.

The fire chief said permits were granted to those seeking  to clear farm land to allow them to plant crops again.

One such person is Austin, who said he wanted to get back into farming “in a bigger way”, but noted that the grass on the open field was posing a challenge.

“I contacted the fire department and here we are today.  I advise others to contact the fire department if they want to burn because the grass burns tremendously fast,” he said.

Under the new order, homeowners are allowed to use fire for backyard barbecues and other similar domestic activities.