B’dos Fire Service praised for its efforts

Vehicular accidents and fires are on the decline in Barbados. 

 

This was disclosed by Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Gayle Francis-Vaughan, during a brief congratulatory address for the Barbados Fire Service (BFS) as it celebrated its 61st anniversary with a service at the Western Light Church of the Nazarene, St. James yesterday.

 

“We would like to thank the BFS upfront for all they have done this past year to carry out their remit, and the fact that you have done a great job has been seen in the decrease in fires, both domestic and commercial, due to the higher awareness of fire safety. And as it affects the BFS, because they are called out to serious accidents, we also want to note that vehicular accidents are significantly down this year,” stated Francis-Vaughan.

 

Continuing her address, the Permanent Secretary spoke of some of the achievements that the BFS has enjoyed for the last year; for instance the replacement of the training and development unit of the BFS to the Barbados Fire Academy. The academy is being housed at the Arch Hall Fire Station, which will be re-opening soon.

 

Another recent achievement is the Barbados Fire Service Association’s initiative to prepare and publish a fire prevention handbook, a copy of which the Permanent Secretary hopes every Barbadian household will possess. Moreover, she stated, “We have also developed and will soon lay out our Customer Service Charter. This is very important because this charter is an agreement between the BFS and the public. The BFS is there to protect you but we expect that the public will make some commitments to do what they have to do.”

 

Looking towards the future, Francis-Vaughan asserted that the BFS intends to enhance the relationships with the wider society and to fortify alliances in the private and public sectors. Added to that, the first response department will be with adequate financial, human and physical resources.

 

To further facilitate this, Francis-Vaughan disclosed that the training of additional personnel is ongoing. “The government recognizes the value of human development and will continue to support the training of the staff through partnerships, especially with education institutions. Long awaited was the establishment of an auxiliary fire service…this is really important because in times of great need for fire fighters sometimes we have not enough appointed firemen. Men and women will be perfectly trained but will be on call when they are needed in the event of increase fire emergencies,” she explained.

 

As the Permanent Secretary closed, she made a sincere appeal to members of the public. “Continue your support of this department by adhering to the prevention and fire safety programmes. It is only by doing this that there will be further reductions in fires and accidents."