FOR the first half of this year, 164 persons have been displaced due to fires at their private residences, even as the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) records a significant 18 per cent decrease in fires occurring at homes for the year, according to the GFS’s half-year report.
This disclosure comes even as the Fire Service continues to implement strategic systems to tackle firefighting locally.
According to statistics, the displacement of persons due to this disaster represents a 41 per cent decrease in persons losing their homes against the 277 in 2022.
In an invited comment, Deputy Fire Chief, Haimchandra Persaud, disclosed that several new systems were implemented this year and noted that the service documented 133 fires at private residents against the 162 recorded in the same period last year.
GFS statistics also revealed a 32.4 per cent decrease in fires at businesses against the same period in 2021.
For 2022, some 25 businesses were affected by fire against the 37 in the previous year.
A cursory look at the records shows that calls to the GFS have increased by 20.1 per cent, from 566 last year to 680.
Also down significantly, at 08, are fires caused by children playing with flammable items, which last year stood at 13.
And in terms of fires involving motor vehicles, there has been a 36 per cent decrease from 45 last year to 29.
Fires occurring at government properties have seen a 39 per cent increase in 2022, with 18 recorded this year against the 13 recorded in 2021.
The government has been investing heavily in improving the capacity of the GFS to cater to the needs of the public. Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn, in a recent comment, underscored the importance of fire-prevention systems in minimizing the number of fires.
In April, he disclosed plans for the GFS to embark on a major countrywide fire-prevention systems-inspection exercise this year. It is expected to target mainly commercial buildings and businesses.
He noted that this exercise, coupled with public education outreaches targeting homes, will equip persons with the necessary knowledge to develop, implement and enforce fire-prevention measures in rural and urban communities, especially in commercial areas.
Disclosing the 2022 plan in further detail, Minister Benn stated that as part of the Fire Service’s fire-prevention plan, heavy investments would be made to distribute several pieces of fire-prevention apparatus to residents and businesses.
He said that during the year, the GFS, through the Ministry of Home Affairs, will procure and distribute 3,000 fire extinguisher balls and smoke detectors, which will act as a “first response” to help prevent the spread of the fire.
Fire extinguisher balls are dry powder fire extinguishers. When touched by a naked flame, they will self-activate and effectively disperse extinguishing chemicals.
Benn noted that these new systems would complement the work of the 10-point plan that was introduced in 2021, which resulted in the service recording a 22 per cent reduction in the number of fires recorded for the year.
The 10-point plan entails the modernization and renovation of existing fire stations; collaboration with government agencies; implementation of a fire service building code; establishment of a legal department; creation of an Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) department; training courses for staff, both locally and internationally; establishment of a public relations unit; operational pole training for all staff; and expansion of emergency medical service.
In terms of equipment this year, the government has been allocating significant monies for procuring equipment that will complement the 10-point system.
This year, the government has already expended $178 million on four new pieces of equipment for the fire service.
The new additions to the fire service’s pool of resources are a $146.3 million airport crash-rescue tender, a $12.7 million bowser water tanker, and two ambulances valuing collectively $19.5 million.
The GFS also received two new fire tenders worth $28 million. Those tenders were donated to the government by a British firefighting & rescue vehicle manufacturing company, Angloco.
