AFTER receiving much criticism for its response to the recent fire at the Brickdam Police Station, the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) is currently working on a new action plan to improve its performance at fire scenes.

This is according to acting Fire Chief Gregory Wickham, who also disclosed at a press conference held on Thursday that training exercises and preventive measures to reduce the causes of fires will be included in the plan.

He disclosed that as part of the preventive aspect, firefighters have already been deployed to several high-rise buildings and business places along Regent and Robb Streets, to conduct inspections.

For this year, the GFS has so far responded to 832 fire calls, a 43% decrease from the 1,469 fire calls that were made for the same period in 2020.

Wickham noted that in addition to reducing the number of fires, the fire service has been working assiduously to improve its fire-fighting strategy to keep citizens safe.

“No two fires are the same and that’s a known and therefore the fire service always has to be able to improve on its fire-fighting strategy. We have a mandate to ensure that we protect life and property from destruction by fire under the Fire Service Act and the Fire Prevention Act and so we’re following closely to that to ensure that we do as the laws of Guyana would have given us the right to do, to ensure that the members in our community are safe and protected,” Wickham stated.

RESOURCES
The acting Fire Chief said that proper utilisation of resources provided to the GFS by government will also be a part of the new plan.

He acknowledged that government over the years has spent millions of dollars to ensure that the fire service is “kitted out” with the right tools, equipment and personal protective equipment (PPE).

During the Brickdam station fire, the service was censured for its underutilistation of equipment and the PPEs, which was said to have hindered the efficiency of firefighters on the ground.
“Yes, the Fire Service realises that at that fire specifically there are highs and low points that we need to improve on and so we would have taken the necessary steps to ensure that we improve our performance because we are confident. We know that we have the support when it comes to the equipment and the tools for us to perform our tasks and our duties. So, whatever would have caused the low points at that fire, we would have looked at it, we would have had discussions and we have put plans in place to prevent such recurrences,” Wickham added.

Noting that the fire service always uses the best tactics when extinguishing a fire, he said: “Whatever the firefighters [did] on that given day, whatever action they would have taken, we believe it was the best decision.”

He pointed out that in many instances uncontrollable circumstances such as wind, play a major role in negating the efforts of the fire service.

“The thing about fire is that in some cases it may look as though you’re having an advantage and then you can have that sudden change because of so many other circumstances like I alluded, like wind; the direction of wind, the change of wind, and then the materials that are on fire that would lend to rapid combustion. So, there’s [sic] a number of things that have to be put into consideration when we are thinking about fire-fighting,” Wickham stated.

PRANK CALLS
Meanwhile, he told the media that even though the GFS has been receiving an increasing number of prank calls over the past few days, fire officials are still following the rule that states, “when in doubt, turn out.” This is being done to ensure that ranks are deployed in every instance to provide protection if necessary.

He added that there are systems that allow the GFS to trace this type of call and prosecute any person found making a prank call.
“It is very clear. Once persons are found to be making pranks in the fire department, they will be taken before the court,” he said.