City fires a worry, says MP

There is a growing concern surrounding the high frequency of house fires being reported in the nation’s capital.

Member of Parliament for the City of Bridgetown, Corey Lane said though the Government will continue to give support to affected families off house fires, the rate of fires is worrying. He spoke to the media on Friday in Rock Gap, New Orleans where a house was completely destroyed and another damaged in an early morning blaze.

“This is the third fire within the last five days or so. As you know we had a fire earlier in Garden Land, we had one in Mayers Land and now we have one in Rock Gap. This is a serious problem for the Ministry of People Empowerment,” said Lane, who is also Parliamentary Secretary in that ministry.

Thirteen fire officers responded to the scene just after 9 a.m. according to acting Station Officer McAllister.

“We received a call to a structural fire [in] Baxster’s Road, opposite Jordan’s Supermarket. On arrival, there were two houses fully engulfed and one slightly damaged. We had two appliances from the Bridgetown Fire Station and one from Worthing Fire Station.

Meanwhile, MP Lane said densely populated communities are a concern because of the safety issues they present. He noted that with Government’s commitment to building at least 10,000 new homes over the next five years, it is hoped this would help to make a dent in relieving some of this congestion.

“In these densely populated areas, one would know if the Fire Service does not respond quickly we could go from an unfortunate situation, to a situation of traumatic proportions.

“We just have one house burnt flat, one shed which had one person dwelling in it, and one house damaged with another occupant. We have five adults and six children; in one house alone we had three adults and six children living, so we have densely-populated areas, and we also have densely-populated houses.”

Sophia Husbands, the Barbados Labour Party Box Captain for the BF2 and BF3 areas, which include Rock Gap, said the community will rally together to help support the families affected, but also made a plea to Barbadians to take fire safety measures seriously.

“Please look out for one another. Turn off the stoves, pull out the plugs, that is something that we are preaching all of the time. This is not like a hurricane season, but this is a season that happens all the time… we will always have house fires. We are urging everyone to please look out for one another, especially in these areas.” (SB)