Hinterland auxiliary fire services to be upgraded

GINA, GUYANA, Friday, October 28, 2016

The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) will be upgrading the Madhia and Mabaruma auxiliary fire services to full fire stations. This is part of its modernisation programme.

Fire Chief, Marlon Gentle, told the Government Information Agency (GINA) in a recent interview, that structured fire protection needs to be put in place to meet the ever expanding community and population needs in the areas.

“We understand now the shifting of the population from the coastland to hinterland. Even if we encourage the concept of auxiliary fire service there still needs to have a small component of professional and regular fire services in these areas to provide that immediate support and to also manage the fire protection initiative in these areas,” Gentle told GINA.

There is also potential for job creation in these communities since residents can be recruited and trained as fire-fighters and administrative staff to man these stations. Construction of these stations is set for next year. Currently, the GFS is constructing a fire station in Lethem.

The expansion initiative is part of the GFS’s Strategic Plan which seeks to modernise the fire service in its entirety from its operational to administrative capacities.

According to Gentle, the GFS is also working with the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) and other developmental agencies to determine where additional fire stations or auxiliary fire services could be established.

Part of the strategic plan is the continued capacity building of fire-fighters. “Right now we have someone working on updating our training curriculum we have also gone a far way in developing our training institution at Lenora,” Gentle said.

The Fire Chief said that the GFS recognises the need to move into the 21^th century with the rest of the country and ranks are being prepared to meet 21^st century challenges.

Last year and earlier this year, five GFS officers benefited from training in practical development and instructor qualified training in the UK at the Fire College.  In addition, the GFS recently received a donation of training aid and equipment from its Canadian counterpart to aid in capacity building.

The GFS will also be upgrading its equipment as part of its modernising drive. “One of the goals also is to harmonise and modernise our equipment in that we have the right equipment for the right conditions and that could give us the type of service that is necessary for our environment,” Gentle said.

 

 

By Tiffny Rhodius