Compton Sparman
Compton Anthony Sparman
Compton Anthony Sparman

– Guyana’s longest serving fireman

By Telesha Ramnarine

WHEN Compton Anthony Sparman first went into the Guyana Fire Service (GFS), on recommendation from a family friend, the officer he stood before said to him: “Thief! Thief! Bandit! Bandit! We don’t want you; sheep in wolf clothing.”

Compton Anthony Sparman
Compton Anthony Sparman

Such a response came because Sparman said he was born and raised in Albouystown, the Georgetown suburb which bears a sketchy reputation associated with its tag of being “the ghetto.” But little did that officer know that the very office he occupied would eventually be the one that Sparman would sit in as Divisional Officer in charge of the entire fire service operations.
Now fourth-in-command, Sparman is the longest serving member of the GFS, owing to the fact that all of his “squad mates” have retired. And it is for this reason that he said he at times feels lonely with no one to talk old time stories with.
Sparman, 52, was just 18 years old when he applied for work at the GFS. His application was rejected initially because as he puts it, “you had to know somebody before you get in.”
Jobs were hard to come by and so Sparman decided that he would take up temporary work that was available.
At age 16, he worked as an Office Assistant at the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands and Survey, a job that included dropping off mails. He then went to the Guyana National Trading Corporation (GNTC) as a tally clerk in the cement section.
At around age 18, he decided that he wanted to be employed on a fulltime basis. His brother knew a firefighter by the name of Walter Thorne; Thorne tunred out to be the one who would eventually put in “a good word” for him.
After the experienced described at the outset, Thorne vouched for Sparman’s reputation. Sparman was then sent to the Training Officer, McElroy Small, who told him he needed to write an application. This was in 1982.

“You must always be focused on what you’re doing because you have people’s lives in your hands.”

“He eventually trained me. He had a likeness for me somehow. I then had an exam at TSU Hall and when I went there, over 300 people were there to write that exam.”
Intimidation set in at first; he didn’t think he would be chosen from that large a pool. But he wrote the exam and two weeks later, he received a slip from the GFS, advising him hat he was successful at the exam and he should report for an interview.
He aced the interviewed and was then enlisted in the GFS. Along with the 80 others who were recruited, Sparman had to engage in rigorous training for four months at Timehri.
“The training was hard and I only had 95 pounds. Some of my squad mates had to drop out but I held on and continued.”

With some of his colleagues at the GFS Water Street office
With some of his colleagues at the GFS Water Street office

Sparman, a former member of the Caribbean Association of Firefighters, eventually attended the University of Guyana where he studied Language and Communications. He had attended Sister Cannings Nursery School in Albouystown, St. Stephen’s Primary and South Georgetown Secondary.
During his 33 years on the job so far, he visited some 12 countries in order to complete training courses in fire prevention, search and rescue, fire investigation, firefighting techniques, aircraft firefighting, among many others. He also did a “drill instructor” course in the Army and a prosecutor’s course in Guyana Police Force.
He was promoted to leading fireman, then section leader, sub officer, station officer, and now divisional officer, primarily responsible for firefighting.

“I was investigating the fire and when I saw the children, it sent a shiver down my spine. I was perturbed, I was mad, I was devastated. I can’t express the feelings I had.” – Sparman on the Timheri fire in which three children, hugging each other, perished in a fire after they were left home alone.

First Fire
The first fire Sparman attended to could have also been his last had he not listen to instructions coming from his seniors. It happened on Robb Street in Georgetown where a fire was raging at two buildings by the time the fire service crew got on the scene.
“Because of my inexperience, me and a guy name Ramroop went between both buildings trying to save one. I felt heat to my bones. All my eyelashes burn off my face and his glasses melted on his face.
“Those days we only had calabash helmets so your whole face was exposed. The hose was burnt and we were in between there with no water. I can never forget that.”
When a senior officer came on the scene, he shouted to Sparman and his colleague: “What y’all doing inside there? Come out!” Less than 30 seconds after they heeded that instruction, the two buildings collapsed. “If we had spent another 30 seconds, we would have been covered there and died.”
Another unforgettable fire for Sparman was the one that occurred at the Textile Mill. He and another man, Jerome Sankar, were trapped at the center of the building. It was a cotton bond which produced clothes and so the fire was raging. “It was a Sunday night we got the call. Sankar suffered more than me. The fire circled us and the hose we were fighting with burst so the water stopped flowing. We were calling for help but no one could hear because of the confusion.
“The smoke got down into my lungs; I told Sankar it’s either we jump or stay and burn. We jumped and rolled where there was water. Sankar had to be hospitalised but I suffered minor injuries.”
Sparman recalled saving a woman’s life in Eping Avenue. She was trapped and the team had to break a wall to pull her through.
The most heartrending fire that Sparman experienced was the one at Timehri where three children died together. “The mother went out to sport and left the children. They were hungry and one of them climbed up on a chair to take down the matches to light the stove to make tea. The stove fell down and a fire was started. The door was locked and burnt all three of them, hugged together.
“I was investigating the fire and when I saw the children, it sent a shiver down my spine. I was perturbed, I was mad, I was devastated. I can’t express the feelings I had.”
Apart from these, Sparman has a lot of fires under his belt, so to speak, including those on Regent Street, at the Rice Board, Muneshwars, and the GPC factory. In the 1980s, he also worked on the Norton Street fires which claimed 13 buildings in one instance and then another 19. The Guyana Timbers Fire lasted for more than two years before it was eventually quelled.

GFS Strategic Plan
Sparman said a good firefighter should be disciplined and committed, and would be interested in learning new firefighting strategies, including technology that could be employed.
“You must always be focused on what you’re doing because you have people’s lives in your hands. You must be disciplined because if a man says, ‘Stop, it’s stop!’ If you ignore those orders, it can be detrimental to you. That is what I live with. I always maintain discipline and preach discipline to my juniors. I also take instructions from my seniors once the instruction is legitimate. There is no substitute to discipline. It’s either you’re disciplined or undisciplined.”
Sparman believes that the Strategic Plan of the GFS should be implemented and made a priority. “My biggest problem is that most officers lack the experience and training that I was exposed to. We have civilians trained to do firefighting only in Kwakwani, Mahdia, Lethem, Port Kaituma and Mabaruma. We only cover the coastland. Our travel distance to the East Coast is tremendous. If there is a fire in Buxton, the vehicle comes from town; likewise on the East Bank. We have to ensure we have our resources spread more in terms of coverage. I would like to see that happen because I know people depend on us tremendously.”
This June, Sparman will complete 34 years of service to the GFS and with the time remaining before he retires, he said he plans to continue giving his best and full support to the Service.

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