Bajan Fire Fighters Blog

Seven persons are reported to be homeless after a house fire at My Lord's Hill, St Michael this morning. One house was extensively damaged and another slightly after being burnt by fire. Nine officers with two fire tenders from Fire Service Headquarters under the command of acting Station Officer Gordon Boxill responded to the 9:14 a.m. blaze. Police and Fire officials are currently investigating the cause of the fire. (e-Report photo by G Alleyne).

Tune into CBC TV8 tomorrow morning from 6:00 a.m. Two members from the Fire Prevention and Community Relations Unit of the Barbados Fire Service will join the hosts of 'Mornin Barbados'. This informative segment should not be missed. See CBC TV8 on-demand video clips: http://www.cbc.bb/index.pl/video1

This year started out as a tough one for members of the Barbados Fire Service, as their human resources were stretched due to an upsurge in grass, cane and house fires in the months of January and February. Reports indicated that these blazes were having a negative impact on firefighters, since they were “going almost the complete period of the tour of duty without rest”. However, while speaking to the Barbados Advocate yesterday, Acting Chief Fire Officer Randolph Cox noted that of late the Fire Service has seen a reduction in fires. But, he is still appealing to the public to exercise caution and engage in fire prevention strategies as Barbados is still undergoing a period of drought, and the situation is further compounded each time the Fire Service has to send out tenders to respond to any fire. “We are not having as many fires as we had during the first two months of the year. We have seen a reduction daily and I would encourage all Barbadians to continue to ensure that we don’t ...

A number of trees at Neil's Tenantry, St. Michael became the latest casualties of the on-going spate of grass fires. Firefighters spent several hours extinguishing grass and trees during Tuesday afternoon. (e-Report photo by P Christie)

Another home has been burnt by fire. Fire Officers from the St John Fire Station and Fire Service Headquarters responded to the 6:18 a.m. blaze yesterday which completely destroyed a timber house at Drax Hall Hope, St George. Ten officers under the command of acting Station Officer Gordon Boxill and Divisional Officer Glanville Collins attended the fire. (e-Report photo by G Alleyne)

Three children, ages three, five and six, and their parents are today without a home after the two bedroom timber house in which they lived at Bourbon, St Lucy was destroyed by fire today. Two cats, three dogs and a number of fish also lost their lives in the blaze, which started just after noon. Shelly-Ann Skinner and Edwin Lampkin, surrounded by family and neighbours, looked at the ashes that remained of their home, clueless about what they were going to tell their sons or where they would sleep tonight. The house was not insured. Skinner said her boyfriend left home around six this morning, followed by her and the children two hours later. Just after noon, they each got a call that their home was on fire. But by the time they arrived only five dogs and one cat were saved from the inferno. Lampkin explained the dogs that died in the blaze were tied to their kennels while the cats and fish were inside the house. He added that a number of people from the area tried to save the house an...

The new Executive Committee of the Barbados Fire Service Sports and Social Cub (BFSSSC) has launched an ambitious programme to rebuild and restructure the organisation. This was revealed by the newly appointed Public Relations Officer, Glyne Alleyne. Alleyne indicated that the programme seeks to increase membership, improve community relations, provide greater assistance to members, improve the financial disposition of the organisation and enhance the general services offered by the BFSSSC. The organisation is also creating partnerships with social and commercial entities and is inviting interested parties to work with the Fire Service Sports Club. One of the major challenges as outlined by Alleyne is in the area of corporate sponsorship of its cricket and football teams. The financial burden of funding these two sporting disciplines has put tremendous strain on the organisation. This situation has prevented the organisation from pursuing other strategic developmental projects. The BFS...

Description: Members of the Fire Prevention and Community Relations Unit of the Barbados Fire Service conducting a community outreach programme at the Super Centre Supermarket in Warrens during Fire Prevention Week 2008.

At approximately 1835 hrs on Tuesday firefighters responded to a house fire in the Bayland, St. Michael. One stone structure was extensively damaged by fire, two fire tenders from Fire Service Heaquarters under the command of acting Deputy Fire Chief Lloydson Phillips fought the blaze. (e-Report photo by R Best)

One man was rushed to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital by ambulance after the motor vehicle he was driving collided with a utility pole at South District, St. George yesterday evening. Fire Officers from Fire Service Headquarters using the jaws-of-life extricated the driver from the vehicle, which was extensively damaged. (e-Report photo by C Bishop)

A motor vehicle accident near Foursquare, St. Philip resulted in two persons receiving medical attention from EMTs late Friday night. Two vehicles were involved, both were extensively damaged. Fire Officers from the Worthing Fire Station and Fire Service Headquarters responded to the accident. (e-Report photo by R Best)

Fire raged across Hangman’s Hill, through Vaucluse and into Christie Village, St Thomas today destroying one house, damaging three others, killing 16 pigs, two rabbits, four Akita dogs. What started out as a grass fire in Hangman’s Hill, St Thomas quickly spread through the district, leaving a trail of destruction and thousands of dollars in losses in its fiery path, and the burnt out shells of thousands of Giant African Snails. From as early nine this morning fire fighters from the Probyn Street headquarters were battling the blaze at Hangman’s Hill. But, as the fire spread through Vaucluse and into Christie Village they sent for back-up. This included two additional tenders, bringing the total number to four, one water tanker from C.O. Williams and one from the Barbados Water Authority, and 21 fire fighters under the command of the Deputy Chief Fire Officer Llyodson Phillips. Cynthia Odle said she was at work at Sandy Lane this morning when she saw two fires in the area. By lunch tim...

The fires that have been raging across Barbados during the last three months have had a devastating impact on the sugar industry. The sector has lost just over five thousand tonnes of sugar, which means it will struggle to reach the 30 thousand tonnes target this year. The scale of the fires has been so massive it forced the crop to start one week earlier than planned on February 8th. Sugar officials say just over five thousand tonnes of canes have been lost as a result of cane fires . They also say that out of the 64 thousand tonnes of canes they have received at the island's two sugar factories, Andrew's and Portvale, 20 percent of all these canes have been burnt. They say this means that Barbados will be struggling to reach its target of 30 thousand tonnes this year. So far for the crop the island has produced just under 69 hundred tonnes of sugar, with Andrew's leading the way producing 4690 tonnes and Portvale 2182 tonnes. The sugar crop is expected to last between 13 ...

Wind blown embers from a grass fire at Westmoreland, St. James ignited the shingle roof of a nearby home this afternoon. Fire Officers from the St. James Fire Station and Fire Service Headquarters under the command of Station Officer Willis O'Neale responded to the fire. (e-Report photo by R Best)

Fire Officers from Worthing Fire Station and Fire Service Headquarters responded to a motor vehicle accident near the Top Rock Roundabout, Christ Church around 11:11 a.m. this morning. One female occupant was extricated by firefighters using the jaws-of-life. The accident involved a route taxi and two sports utility vehicles. (e-Report photo by T Griffith)

As social networking sites continue to grow in popularity, the Barbados Fire Service is the first emergency service agency in the island to seize the initiative and maintain a strong connection with the public. “We have been following the development of the various social networking sites, looking at the ones that are popular and user friendly, selecting Blogger, Twitter, Facebook, Ning, YouTube and Ustream,” informed the man behind the scenes, Fire Officer Glyne Alleyne. “The Fire Department officially came on the Internet in 1998, but Bajan firefighters came about because, while the department’s website gives us an official web presence where we disseminate information to the public, we realised no provision was made for fire officers to interact.” As a result, Alleyne started the blog: Bajan firefighters, in 2001. Since then, the group has embraced public interest and diversified, with 950 members (and counting) having signed on to the Bajan firefighters Facebook page. “We are very ...