Guyana Fire Service conducts emergency response exercise – in observance of Fire Prevention Week

Under the theme “It’s better being safe with Fire Prevention in place,” the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) on Tuesday, conducted an emergency response exercise aimed to enlighten the public on fire safety and prevention.

At the Central Fire Station located in Stabroek in the heart of Georgetown, Fire Prevention Officer, Sheldon Sauns led the exercise by demonstrating the procedures from the time a fire is reported to when the fire officers are deployed in response to the fire.

On the grounds of D’Urban Park, Homestretch Avenue, a two-floor wooden building was constructed to represent a private dwelling house which was then lit on fire to conduct the exercise. To quickly extinguish the fire, four fire trucks were dispatched to the location, two from the Central Fire Station, one from Alberttown and the other from West Ruimveldt fire station.

During the exercise, an emergency ambulance was present to assess causalities from the scene of the fire. In the event of an actual fire with casualties, the ambulance would take persons to the nearest medical institution or would render first aid to a firefighter in cases of exhaustion or fainting.   

Station Officer/Acting Operations Officer, Shannon Crawford provided a few tips on fire prevention and safety measures.

“The first one I will advise is to purchase a fire extinguisher for your home. All buildings should equip themselves with fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, you will take care with small children that you have in your home.

He added that parents must properly supervise all materials like cigarette and lighters.

He noted that fire prevention is everyone’s business.

The Central Fire Station will soon relocate to Homestretch Avenue to better serve citizens.