CHIEF Fire Officer Marlon Gentle yesterday said that the major challenge confronting the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) is sourcing water supplies when there is a fire in communities, since the larger fire tenders were not designed to carry bulk water to  fire scenes.In that light, they are in talks with the Guyana Water Inc (GWI) to craft an approach to have fire hydrants active again, as  access to water at fires has been a bugbear for the GFS while attracting much unfair criticism.
Gentle stated that effective fire protection calls for inter-agency collaboration in managing communities in terms of infrastructure. The Fire Chief said that although they have challenges, they remain undaunted and are always working to improve their services.
However, he explained that a large fire tender cannot travel swiftly to a fire scene with 30-40 tonnes of water to outlying areas. The GFS at present has three such tenders in the city, one in New Amsterdam and another one on the West Coast of Demerara.
In other countries, Gentle added, the large fire tender is used as a second firefighting option, where they are not the only piece of equipment for water supply, but locally it is the primary source of water supply at a fire scene.
FIRE HYDRANTS
The Chief Fire Officer stated that they are working with GWI to have the fire hydrants fortified to give an adequate flow of water to supply firefighting pumps with their large capacity.  He noted that the fire hydrants must also have the right water pressure and volume to be able to put out fires.

Meanwhile, the GFS is looking to establish fire stations in new housing schemes.  Gentle said that the establishment of fire stations in newer housing schemes will see a reduction in response time to a fire call.
On the East Coast corridor, the only fire tenders that will respond to fires are from the Campbellville and Mahaica Fire Stations.  They are looking for a plot of land at Paradise, East Coast Demerara, to construct a fire station to serve that section of the East Coast, he added.
Gentle explained that in relation to the Non Pareil fire on Sunday, the fire tender arrived on the scene after 26 minutes and it is an issue they have in getting there in good time. He added that in most cases wood burns faster and by the time they reach the scene, the building would be totally enveloped and there were home furnishings made of wood which is a free burner.
BUILDING CODES
Gentle said that most fires get started through the careless use of electricity, which often speeds up a fire and their response time is not fast enough, because of distance. However, he is heartened to see measures are being put in place for the Guyana Building Codes to be implemented by the relevant authorities.
The Chief Fire Officer told this publication that when the Building Codes are enacted and enforced, that will ultimately regulate the construction of buildings where preventive measures will be in place.  Moreover, he said that he is pleased to see zoning taking place, which he deemed a “breath of fresh air” in terms of fire-prevention.

By Michel Outridge