–talks up prevention at launch of first Kids Camp

CHILDREN from various schools poured into the Lusignan community centre ground, East Coast Demerara, on Saturday for the Kids Camp initiative hosted by the Guyana Fire Service (GFS).

A first of its kind, the event kicked off with the goal of raising awareness among children about the dangers of fires. The camp included a presentation which saw members of the fire service engaging the children on the measures that should be taken in the event of a fire.

The correct way to use a fire extinguisher was also demonstrated to the crowd of onlookers. Although the program was developed in December of last year, it has only become a reality in January of this year.

Moving forward, the Guyana Fire Service hopes to set up camps across the country. This comes almost a year after the Madia fire that claimed the lives of 20 children and sparked numerous campaigns and initiatives by the GFS. In an interview with this newspaper, Chief Fire Officer, Gregory Wickham addressed a few concerns, including the way forward with similar initiatives and statistics regarding the recent rise in fires.

He acknowledged that there has been a rise in the number of calls to the fire stations. He explained that when compared to January 2023, there is an alarming rise in the number of fires and well as lives lost.

“There is an increase in fires. For a year we have seen a dramatic rise in the number of fire calls. Added to that, today being the thirteenth day of January 2024, we would have lost two lives by way of fire.

Those are alarming figure for us because we want to prevent any outbreak of any fires. Some of the things that trigger these kinds of situations, are the same statistic that shows the rise in the number of fires. And so here we are today educating the children and their parents or guardians so that we can have a reduction in the number of fire calls.”

In an effort to form stronger bonds with the Guyanese people and emphasise the message of fire safety, the GFS will be taking a personal approach. Wickham shared that the fire service is hoping to engage all Guyanese in one-on-one discussions.

“Apart from this, we have also launched a campaign, where we are going on a one-on-one. Firefighters are advised to engage at least one person a week, with the message of firefighting. And we have 800 plus firefighters, so you can imagine one person taking one person a week, that is 800 persons per week. And we are going to be doing that until we are satisfied that we have reached almost everybody if not everybody.”

Also working to change any negative perceptions that the Guyanese people many have, the GFS has also commenced community outreaches. Chief Fire Officer Wickham emphasised that the GFS is pushing its best efforts towards getting out into neighbourhoods around the country.

“Each fire truck will be going out within their turn out areas and reaching members of the public. Whether that be a community centre, or mall, a supermarket, a health centre, even at a hospital. We are going out there and we have started the campaign because we want sensitise members of the public.

The more we get the information out to them the more it is going to reduce the level of ignorance and people will be better informed as to what we do first to prevent a fire and if there is a fire what to do to prevent the total destruction of property. And of course, one life lost in fire is too much for us.”