Guyana Fire Service celebrates 60 years of Service
DPI, GUYANA, Thursday, October 12, 2017
The Guyana Fire Service today celebrated 60 years of service in Guyana since its establishment in 1957.
Prior to 1957, the GFS was an arm of the Guyana Police Force and was known as British Guiana Fire Brigade. In observance of its anniversary, the GFS held a march through the streets of Georgetown.
Chief Fire Officer of the GFS Marlon Gentle said that over the years, the service has made a lot of strides from its inception. This is largely due to the expansion of the GFS’ services to all parts of the country.
The Guyana Fire Service celebrates 60 years of service in Guyana.
He explained that “when we started in 1957 there was just one fire station in Georgetown and another in New Amsterdam. Today we are at seventeen completed stations, we also have five auxiliary units in the interior and we are in the phases of constructing three other fire stations in Guyana.”
Those fire stations at different stages of completion are located in Lethem Region Nine, Mahdia Region Eight and Mabaruma Region One. The GFS is also expanding their services to Leguan and Wakenaam in Essequibo, Region Three, by with the establishment of auxiliary units on the islands equipped with one fire tender each.
The GFS is also working to re-establish its presence on the waterfronts by resuscitating its marine firefighting arm with a fireboat which is expected to arrive in Guyana in 2018. Gentle also stated that fire officers are currently being trained in marine firefighting by the Guyana Defense Force.
The GFS is slated to host a number of activities across the country as part of its fire prevention week activities in an effort to raise awareness on the devastating effects of fire.
By: Isaiah Braithwaite