FIRE SERVICES CRISIS CONTINUES

A GENERATION ago, ageless calypsonian Rose sang “Fire, Fire” about a neighbourhood blaze.

Rose tells of summoning nearby residents to put out the fire.

“Where is the ladder?” she enquired.

Then she advised: “Unreel the hose/And let go the water.”

The calypsonian was exasperated.

“Well, ah say tonight, Lord/Somebody go dead/Because this ole lady/She eh living with nobody…”

The scenario painted by Calypso Rose is frightful reality in Trinidad and Tobago in light of deaths caused by fire and the horrible continuing lack of fire-fighting equipment.

Even with the brand-new promise by Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds of the purchase of relevant equipment – including breathing apparatus – officers are telling of critical shortages at 24 stations.

The Mayaro and Penal stations are still to be outfitted, and there are shortages of appliances and other fire-fighting essentials throughout the system, according to Leo Ramkissoon, head of the Fire Service Officers Association.

Fire tenders and safety equipment are woefully insufficient for officers whose jobs are to save lives and properties when fire flares.

Ramkissoon said there are no breathing apparatus for Tobago officers.

Citizens – like 98-year-old Malcolm Diaz, of Santa Cruz – have died because there was no fire tender.

A few months earlier, Kemba and Zaya Morris perished from smoke inhalation because their neighbourhood fire station at Siparia did not have a working tender.

Eight stations are without fire trucks, according to reports, even though they service large communities.

Officers have met the authorities and spoken publicly of the urgent situation, but the slow pace of procurement suggests casual indifference in the pressing matter of fire-fighting.

The introduction of modern technology – such as sourcing water from open sources, such as rivers and swimming pools – has been painstakingly slow.

Ramkissoon tells of the “hard realities” of the condition of the fire services, with a retort from Hinds that the system is “not in shambles.”

The fact that the National Security Minister is forced to defend the condition of the service and pledge to purchase equipment in critically short supply is itself a dire sign.

Calypso Rose’s enduring song remains as relevant and urgent as ever.