Bajan Fire Fighters Blog

Retired Sub-Officer Harold Berkeley Payne was laid to rest yesterday afternoon after a service of thanksgiving at the Coral Ridge Chapel in Christ Church. Several off-duty members of the Barbados Fire Service joined the official Fire Service bearer party, gazetted ranks, relatives and members of the Fairy Valley Wesleyan Holiness Church. Payne 67, of Fairy Valley, Christ Church formerly of Boscobelle, St. Peter died on Tuesday, September 13 at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and is survived by his wife Coreen Payne and four children. The members and staff of the Barbados Fire Service take this opportunity to extend our heartfelt thanks to the family for the outstanding service rendered by Harold Berkeley Payne.

Roger Corbie, IRP Ltd and Ryan Lovell, Barbados Fire Service Sports Club. IRP Fire & Safety Ltd has partnered with the Barbados Fire Service Sports and Social Club (BFSSSC) as the major sponsor for this year. This announcement was made recently during a brief ceremony at Fire Service Headquarters in Bridgetown. During the ceremony Roger Corbie a representative of IRP Fire & Safety Ltd presented Ryan Lovell, President of the BFSSSC and Lonsdale Blake, Captain of the Fire Service Cricket Team with polo shirts to outfit the entire team. IRP Fire & Safety Ltd represents many well-known international organizations such as MSA, Fike, Williams Fire & Hazard Control and Darley Fire-Fighting Equipment. IRP Fire & Safety Ltd has the only MSA Certified Service Centre in the region. The original company was founded in Trinidad and Tobago in 1973 as Industrial Rubber Products Ltd and later became known to many as IRP. Since then IRP has evolved and grown into providers...

A nearly 6-ton satellite is gradually falling from Earth orbit, and parts of it could crash to the surface as early as Friday, September 23 (today), NASA officials said. NASA officials told ABC News overnight that they won't know where the satellite will hit until two hours before it enters the Earth's atmosphere, moving at 5 miles per second. The space agency's space debris experts predict that at least 26 large pieces of the satellite will survive the scorching temperatures of atmospheric re-entry. But exactly where the UARS satellite debris will fall is uncertain. NASA officials have said that the drop zone for UARS satellite debris could be anywhere between the latitudes of northern Canada and southern South America, an area that includes much of the planet. The satellite should re-enter over a 500-mile (804-kilometer) track, according to NASA officials. Since 75 percent of Earth is covered with ocean, there is a high likelihood that the satellite will re-enter ov...

Come this Sunday, September 25, this country's Fire Service will celebrate 56 years in existence. And to mark the occasion, the department will host several activities under the theme Preserving Our Community Through Service Excellence. The week will begin with divine worship on Sunday at St. Andrew's Anglican Church, Walkers, St. Andrew, beginning at 8:00 a.m. From Monday, September 26, to Wednesday, September 28, there will be a series of open days at all Fire Stations. These will commence at 10:00 a.m. and members of the public will have the opportunity to visit and tour the facilities. Also on September 26, there will be a health extravaganza at the Fire Service's Probyn Street Headquarters, Bridgetown. Visitors can get their cholesterol and blood pressure checked. Massages and pedicures will be offered, and fire safety tips will be exhibited. The following day, Tuesday, September 27, the Airport Fire Station will host an equipment display from 10:00 a.m., whi...

Hurricane Janet the most powerful hurricane of the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season struck on September 22nd, 1955. This hurricane killed 38 people in Barbados and was one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record. The Category 5 hurricane caused catastrophic damage and at least 687 deaths in the Lesser Antilles, Yucatán Peninsula, and mainland Mexico. [The photo above shows Janet's historical track and position on this day in 1955. 13.2N 54.3W.]

Congratulations to Bernard Bowen on his election to the post of Caribbean Regional Director with the International Association of Black Professional Fire Fighters. Bowen is a 30 year veteran firefighter and succeeds former Director Neal Smithwick. The Caribbean Region was incorporated in 1995 and is the 7th Region of the IABPFF.

Today the world reflects on the horrible tragedy that occurred on September 11, 2001. On this the 10th Anniversary we honour the many firefighters, emergency services personnel and civilians whose lives were lost during the events of that day.

Jean Griffith, 78, is counting her lucky stars after being rescued from a car that overturned yesterday morning just off a section of the ABC Highway between the Garfield Sobers Roundabout and the junction of Warners. It was the quick action of Dexter Bishop, who was travelling in the opposite direction, that led to the release of Griffith who was trapped in her car. Bishop said that around 10:34 a.m., while he was driving along the highway, he saw the car lying on its top with the hazard lights flashing. He realized someone was still in the car, so he called for help. Two fire tenders from the Bridgetown headquarters and the Worthing branch, police officers and ambulance personnel responded. Griffith was freed from the car shortly after 11 a.m. and taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. (MM) Source: www.nationnews.com

Fire destroyed a house in Mason Hall Street, The City, yesterday. The blaze left 23-year-old Kenroy Crichlow homeless. In Swan Street Crichlow, not the owner of the house, told the DAILY NATION that he was in the nearby Swan Street, The City, when he was informed about the fire and rushed home. “I was up town and he [a friend] come and tell me to get in the bar [of the bicycle] quick. When I get here everything was burn flat. I had a chance to save nothing. “I don’t have a place to live. I don’t know what to do right now, I really don’t know what to do,” said Crichlow. Two houses were damaged during the blaze, which the Barbados Fire Service responded to around 2:18 p.m. Source: http://www.nationnews.com/