Bajan Fire Fighters Blog

World AIDS Day is held on 1 December each year and is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died. World AIDS Day was the first ever global health day and the first one was held in 1988. The 2014 theme for World AIDS Day is “Focus, Partner, Achieve: An AIDS-free Generation.” Read more: http://www.worldaidsday.org/

Let us all show support for the fight against cancer during the month of October... #BreastCancerAwareness

The Barbados Fire Service Association (BFSA) has embarked on a Healthy Eating Campaign within the Fire Service. The programme which started 14 weeks ago and was conceptualized by the Executive Committee of the BFSA seeks to teach firefighters alternative ways to prepare healthy meals. During the first three weeks of the programme firefighters were able to observe Chef de Partie Sherlon Ifill from The Club Barbados (formerly Almond Beach Club), who gave a number of demonstrations in food preparation. Fire Officer Adrian Brome, programme coordinator said the aim and objective of the campaign was to encourage fire officers to implement lifestyle changes by practicing the methods demonstrated during the past 14 weeks. Brome who was assisted by Fire Officer Troy Gibbons believes the programme is a step in the right direction as it relates to the health and wellness of the department’s personnel.

Firefighters are often the first responders to fires and many other disaster events. Because of this responsibility, they face a number of immediate hazards that follow disasters, including the risk for asbestos exposure. This risk presents its greatest threat when firefighters answer the call to a fire in a home or commercial building built before the 1980s. Asbestos was incorporated into more than 3,000 construction products and nearly every home and building built before 1980 contains asbestos to some degree. Read entire article: http://bajanfirefighters.org/blogs/3/4/asbestos-exposure-risks-for-fire

Rev. David Holder, Pastor Victor Roach and Fire Chief Wilfred Marshall. Rev. David Holder, Pastor Victor Roach and Chief Fire Officer Wilfred Marshall during a seminar this morning at Fire Service Headquarters in Bridgetown. Pastor Roach was addressing fire officers on the topic of Breathalyzer Testing and also urged the Fire Department to pledge its support and endorsement for its implementation in Barbados.

Two individuals may find themselves before the law courts soon for "burning stuff". The local lobby group Citizens Against Burning Stuff told Barbados TODAY that while there are no laws specifically dealing with the burning of stuff, it still constituted a public nuisance and they had had enough. Following up on a promise to do so, president Wayne Willock said he had personally delivered a letter to the office of the Minister of Health Donville Inniss on the matter after the minister had come out in favour of something being done against perpetrators of the act of burning garbage. Willock had said after the minister's statements that the group was happy to have finally found a sympathetic ear to the plight of many, especially those with respiratory challenges. "We strongly believe that the attention which we have been able to draw to this issue may have prompted this focus. We thank him [Inniss] for his timely recognition of this very inconsiderate practice or tr...

The little water that is available to Barbadians because of the current drought, is being depleted even more to fight fires. Acting Chief Fire Officer Randolph Cox, who is currently on leave, wants people to be even more vigilant and protect the environment and natural resources by immediately reporting any suspicious looking individuals who may be setting brush fires. (Lloydson Phillips is the current acting Chief Fire Officer). The Fire Service was again forced to respond to a number of brush fires yesterday and according to the Cox, the same water used to extinguish those blazes is water that should be flowing through taps. "People must consider we are in a drought situation and we at the fire service use the same water they drink to fight fires. If this continues, we will suffer a serious water shortage in Barbados," he said. Cox said a fire tender contained an average of 600 gallons of water. He said one tender usually responded to a grass fire, but often had to be refil...

St Philip and Christ Church have been the hardest hit by the firebug so far this year. According to statistics released by the Barbados Fire Service, there were 117 fires in St Philip and 93 in Christ Church, for January. In St Michael there were 76. In an appeal, Acting Chief Fire Officer Lloydson Phillips urged Barbadians to desist from rash and unwise burning of all types. "Whatever the reason, there is a failure to recognise the inherent danger and the high level of risk which others are exposed to as a result of this indiscriminate action. "A telling example was the house fires that resulted from a grass fire in Christ Church earlier last month," Phillips told the WEEKEND NATION . "This is just one example of the economic impact that these fires are having on our country at a time when we can ill afford it," he said. Another danger pointed out by the senior fire officer was the environmental risk involved with fires. "The products of combustion from f...

January 2010 was the most fiery ever recorded in Barbados. And acting Chief Fire Officer Lloydson Phillips has appealed to Barbadians to stop the dangerous practice of igniting grass fires which accounted for a phenomenal 304 of the 452 fires recorded for the month. As a result, the island’s 249 fire officers have been severely stretched trying to respond to the large number of fires. Phillips told the WEEKEND NATION he was particularly concerned about the sudden upsurge in grass fires and noted there were four times as many fires over the highest ever number (82) in 2008 in a comparative five-year period (2005 – 2010). “Persons light fires and cause open burning for many different reasons. It may be to get rid of rodents, cow itch vines, to clear a lot, to improve security or to beautify their surroundings,” the acting chief fire officer said. “Whatever the reason, there is a failure to recognise the inherent danger and the high level of risk which others are exposed to as a resul...

Brush fires have stretched the Barbados Fire Service to the limit. And Acting Chief Fire Officer Lloydson Phillips is appealing to Barbadians to stop indiscriminate burning. Phillips said: “At the beginning of 2010 we are faced with an abnormally high number of fires as they rage in every section of the Island and have placed a very heavy demand on the resources of this department. “Where at the end of January 2009 we had 13 grass fires, at the end of the corresponding period [this year] we have had 304.” The statistics also showed there were 36 cane fires at the end of January, compared to just five the previous year, while rubbish fires stand at 38 as opposed to last year’s 15. Particularly troubling is the hike in false alarm calls to the fire service from six in 2009 to 17 in 2010. “Persons light fires and cause open burning for many different reasons. Whatever the reason there is a failure to recognise the inherent danger and the high level of risk which others are exposed to as a...

Started on 1st December 1988, World AIDS Day is about increasing awareness, fighting prejudice and improving education. The World AIDS Day theme for 2009 is 'Universal Access and Human Rights'. World AIDS Day is important in reminding people that HIV has not gone away, and that there are many things still to be done. According to UNAIDS estimates, there are now 33.4 million people living with HIV, including 2.1 million children. During 2008 some 2.7 million people became newly infected with the virus and an estimated 2 million people died from AIDS. Around half of all people who become infected with HIV do so before they are 25 and are killed by AIDS before they are 35. The Barbados Fire Service HIV/AIDS Committee was established in June 2007 and seeks to provide assistance, support and education to members of the Fire Service and their families. The committee also has a secondary role as a member of the national HIV/AIDS campaign. Fire Officers have donated to the HIV/AIDS Foo...

Sunday 17 May marks the 26th anniversary of the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial. The International AIDS Candlelight Memorial is among the world’s oldest movements for HIV/AIDS remembrance, awareness and community action. The first International AIDS Candlelight Memorial was held in 1983, when the cause of AIDS was unknown and no more than a few thousand AIDS deaths had been recorded. The organisers wished to honour the memory of those lost to AIDS and to demonstrate support for those living with AIDS. That remains the focus of the event today. The Candlelight Memorial is more than just a memorial. It is an opportunity to educate about AIDS, advocate for policy change, foster partnerships and community dialogue, and improve skills for community mobilization. With 33 million people estimated to be infected worldwide, the Memorial serves as an important uniting intervention among civil society and their governments, breaking down social barriers, and giving hope to future generati...

Health officials have given the all clear at the Bridgetown port after a scare Wednesday morning involving a crew member from the cruise ship, Carnival Victory. A female crew member was quarantined after discovering that she was exhibiting signs of influenza. Lisa Brome says the ship has already left on its journey around the Caribbean with the affected crew member on board. For a few hours the Bridgetown Port was on high alert as reports emerged that as many as three people who sailed in on the Carnival Victory were suspected to carrying the deadly H1N1 virus. But health authorities quickly mobilized, boarding the ship and carrying out the necessary assessments of the passengers. Health Minister, Donville Inniss, during a media briefing confirmed that it was only one crew member who was quarantined onboard the vessel. In a brief timeline of how the events occurred, Minister Inniss said local health authorities were alerted late yesterday that the vessel left Dominica with one person w...