THE Guyana Fire Service, on Tuesday, received a boost to its firefighting capacity, with the addition of three new water bowsers to its fleet.
The water bowsers were handed over by the Ministry of Home Affairs to the Guyana Fire Service officials to support the main assets in the service’s arsenal.

Delivering brief remarks at the handing-over ceremony was Home Affairs Minister, Robeson Benn, who said the three new bowsers cost some $46.2 million of which each tanker has a capacity of 1,800 gallons of water with independent pumping systems.

“I think in terms of water bowsers, this would double the amount of carrying capacity in terms of the water bowsers we have instantaneously and from that aspect it’s a significant improvement,” Minister Benn said.
Meanwhile, Fire Chief Gregory Wickham expressed gratitude for the capacity building efforts of the Home Affairs Ministry.

Wickham said, “And so we are particularly glad for these new tenders or water bowsers that are added to the fleet, and certainly they will assist us in having water readily available when we have to do firefighting.”

As it relates to the distribution of the tenders, one will be sent to Bartica in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), [and] another in Eccles to deal with fires that may happen within the oil-based areas, while the other will remain in Georgetown to lend support to firefighting in the city.