Wanted: More firefighters

The Barbados Fire Service (BFS) is in need of a few more good men and women.

That cry came Monday from Chief Fire Officer Errol Maynard as he said firefighters have been working feverishly to deliver services to the public, despite having to operate with inadequate numbers.

“We are not okay. Currently, we have 23 recruits in training and they are supposed to pass out around the first week in December. That will put us at approximately 207 or so, and our comfortable estimation is approximately 240, so we are still 30-plus officers short,” Maynard pointed out.

“It’s obvious that any shortage will set us back. In the situation we cannot sit down and roll over, we have to be as resilient as we are and find ways and methods of serving the public in the best way possible. It will cause a lot more strain on the officers who are there, but we try our best.”

Maynard made the comments to members of the media, moments after handing out letters of appointments to fire officers at the General Post Office in Cheapside, Bridgetown.

He also reported that there was an increase in house fires during the COVID-19 lockdown. However, the overall number so far this year is still lower than in the same period in 2019.

Maynard blamed the lockdown spike on the fact that more people were at home using electronic devices.

Despite that surge, he said, around 1 400 fires had been reported so far for the year when compared to more than 1 600 for the same period last year.

“It was not as busy as last year, but what I can tell you is that during the lockdown period we had an increase in fires. It was amazing to us, but overall we have approximately 200 fires less than last year. So, we had fewer calls overall but just that there was a spike during the lockdown period,” he said.

“I believe that because people were at home, they used a lot more electrical devices, putting a lot more stress on the system, and people were frustrated with finding something to do and they probably made a lot more mistakes.”

While acknowledging that the number of recorded fires have declined with each passing year, Maynard said the decrease was due in part to the BFS’ educational programmes and the passing of new legislation.

“We have been having a reduction every year, approximately 10 per cent every year. We’ve had some programmes going that we believe contribute to this reduction and the pieces of legislation that were passed; people are complying.

“If you have a more educated society, people do things the right way and I believe that based on the education we have been doing and the legislation that was passed, I think that contributed significantly to the reduction,” Maynard said.

The fire chief said despite Barbados being hotter than usual, there was no increase in grass fires. He said the rise in temperature did not contribute to spontaneous combustion.
randybennett@barbadostoday.bb