Chief Fire Officer: Not Enough Citizens Taking Fire Prevention Seriously
Chief Fire Officer Wilfred Marshall has expressed concern about the high number of structural fires taking place in Barbados, in particular private dwelling houses and commercial building fires. Marshall has noted that while some fires are due to carelessness on the part of homeowners and others have been deemed as “suspicious”, a number of these fires have been classified as “undetermined”.
Homeowners and people in general still have a role to play in fire prevention, he has noted. Speaking to the Barbados Advocate yesterday at Barbados Fire Service Headquarters located at Probyn Street Bridgetown, the Chief Fire Officer lamented about the number of fires of which the origin has not been determined. “I am always concerned that we have a high percentage of undetermined fires. We work closely with the police in terms of determining the cause of fires and so it is not only the Fire Service that is involved in determining the cause of a fire. We work closely with them as they bring a forensic approach and we also use our skills and expertise etc.,” he stated.
He however outlined the role citizens can play in fire prevention, as the Fire Service is not satisfied that Barbadians are doing their best to prevent incidents. “I am also concerned about electrical appliances and general electrical wiring. We go into some homes and we see people have frayed wiring and they are quite comfortable with it, but we know that from what we see, that broken wires can easily start a fire. So they need to pay attention to that,” Marshall said. “Also, burning refuse around the home. It’s a culture in Barbados where we try to get rid of our garbage by burning and the thing about fire is that we always think we are in charge of the fire, but I always say that fire has a mind of its own. When people are burning garbage, they light it and think it is under control and they just step back in to the house and then the next thing you see, it is spreading to a next neighbour’s property or is out of control,” he added.
Marshall also noted that citizens should pay attention in the kitchen when they are cooking. “Very frequently, people start to cook and they are very tired and they drop to sleep or they get distracted by the telephone of television or something, forgetting that they have something on the stove. We have seen instances of this. So these are little things that people need to pay attention to,” he also remarked.
Marshall is also advising homeowners to have smoke detectors and fire extinguishers in their homes as safety measures. “Smoke detector alerting systems will let you know when there is fire in the home, so once you hear that, you can either get to a point of safety if it is too much for you, or if it is a small fire at the incipient stage, you can use a fire extinguisher and extinguish it. These are things that person can have in their homes to cut down on the amount of fires,” the Chief Fire Officer said. (RSM)
Source: www.barbadosadvocate.com
Homeowners and people in general still have a role to play in fire prevention, he has noted. Speaking to the Barbados Advocate yesterday at Barbados Fire Service Headquarters located at Probyn Street Bridgetown, the Chief Fire Officer lamented about the number of fires of which the origin has not been determined. “I am always concerned that we have a high percentage of undetermined fires. We work closely with the police in terms of determining the cause of fires and so it is not only the Fire Service that is involved in determining the cause of a fire. We work closely with them as they bring a forensic approach and we also use our skills and expertise etc.,” he stated.
He however outlined the role citizens can play in fire prevention, as the Fire Service is not satisfied that Barbadians are doing their best to prevent incidents. “I am also concerned about electrical appliances and general electrical wiring. We go into some homes and we see people have frayed wiring and they are quite comfortable with it, but we know that from what we see, that broken wires can easily start a fire. So they need to pay attention to that,” Marshall said. “Also, burning refuse around the home. It’s a culture in Barbados where we try to get rid of our garbage by burning and the thing about fire is that we always think we are in charge of the fire, but I always say that fire has a mind of its own. When people are burning garbage, they light it and think it is under control and they just step back in to the house and then the next thing you see, it is spreading to a next neighbour’s property or is out of control,” he added.
Marshall also noted that citizens should pay attention in the kitchen when they are cooking. “Very frequently, people start to cook and they are very tired and they drop to sleep or they get distracted by the telephone of television or something, forgetting that they have something on the stove. We have seen instances of this. So these are little things that people need to pay attention to,” he also remarked.
Marshall is also advising homeowners to have smoke detectors and fire extinguishers in their homes as safety measures. “Smoke detector alerting systems will let you know when there is fire in the home, so once you hear that, you can either get to a point of safety if it is too much for you, or if it is a small fire at the incipient stage, you can use a fire extinguisher and extinguish it. These are things that person can have in their homes to cut down on the amount of fires,” the Chief Fire Officer said. (RSM)
Source: www.barbadosadvocate.com
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