Gentle credits GFS with creditable first quarter performance
CHIEF Fire Officer Marlon Gentle has said the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) performed creditably in the first quarter of this year.
He said it responded in a timely manner to calls and did a lot in preventing fires from spreading. Gentle said the biggest challenge for the GFS, so far this year, was the Regent Street, Georgetown conflagration on April 1.
He said, in a comparative analysis, there is a slight drop in fires between the periods of January to April 2012, during which time 28 buildings were destroyed as compared to 36 in 2011.
Gentle said eight buildings were severely damaged this year in comparison to 12 last year. Fifty-five sustained slight damage in 2011 and 23 in 2012.
He noted that the statistics show a downward trend of 12 percent in total fire calls, this year, most of which was due to quick responses by the GFS and some adherence to proper fire safety measures.
Gentle said the majority of fires occurred at dwelling houses which took 70 percent of the total destroyed and there were four deaths in 2011 as against two this year and 50 percent of homelessness resulting from fires, 207 in 2011 and 211 this year.
He said, although there were less electrical fires this year resulting from internal activities within buildings, whether faulty wiring, misuse of electricity or equipment with faults, there is still a reasonably high number of deaths from 16 to 11.

THEFT
Gentle acknowledged that work needs to be done to show people how to use electricity, since theft of it remains one of the causes of fires and damages.
He said another cause is children playing with matches but carelessness remains the main reason, with 22 such incidents in 2011.
Gentle there is a fairly high incidence of arson, with 36  occurrences this year and 28 in 2011 and the GFS finding that some of the buildings are involved in property  disputes.
He said some motor vehicles were also maliciously set afire and he posited: “We rather suspect, however, that, with the motor vehicles, there must be some cases of insurance fraud or persons are destroying them to avoid payment.”
Gentle also observed that there is a 20 percent reduction in false alarms while instances of false information about outdoor fires remain very high, with persons deliberately burning to clear land and disposing of unwanted materials and garbage.
He said, although, sometimes, such fires do not create much destruction to property, they are what the GFS calls nuisances which affect neighbourhoods and people complain about smoke and noxious odours.
Gentle mentioned, too, that there have been reports of persons setting fire to large heaps of materials to extract copper and resulting in very pungent odours affecting a large number of people.
He said the GFS has been summoned, many times, to halt such makeshift smeltering operations in the midst of residential areas and schools.
Gentle appealed to parents and guardians to make sure that children are not left unattended at home, because they have a tendency to play with matches.
Meanwhile, the GFS is involved in fire education in schools countrywide.