Deputy Fire Chief, Henderson Patrick (right) chatting with members of the St. Michael North West District Emergency Organisation following the opening ceremony of the community fair. (J. Rawlins-Bentham/BGIS)

Residents across Barbados are being encouraged to pay greater attention to their personal health and safety as it relates to fire prevention.

This was one of the key messages emphasised by Deputy Chief Fire Officer of the Barbados Fire Service (BFS), Henderson Patrick, during the opening ceremony of a community fair at the Bush Hall Community Centre on Saturday.

He told residents that despite the BFS’ best efforts, safety must start at the individual level.

 “…Not only is the [Barbados] Fire Service interested in the additional things that we have to do, …but our core function really is to extinguish fires and also to prevent them, and to instruct people on how they need to prevent fires,” he said.

Mr. Patrick stressed that it was important for persons to pay attention to unplugging devices and ensuring the stove is turned off when leaving home.

“…This level of responsibility, this personal responsibility, starts with each and every person as an individual within the community. So it is not only personal protection that you are looking at, but it is also property protection,” he outlined.

The senior fire official also reminded persons that just as they had made investments in their homes and cars, those living adjacent would have made similar commitments.

“When you have an emergency, especially a fire emergency, it is one of those things that you only see it and then you don’t see it again. It is very, very swift. And therefore all and sundry have to pay attention not only to their personal safety, but they have to pay attention to the property safety as well,” Mr. Patrick stressed.

Another area of concern highlighted by the Deputy Fire Chief was that of public safety. He urged residents to come together and take preventative action within their communities to mitigate the effects of some hazards.

Noting that the community where the fair was staged was renowned for flooding, he said: “I am saying to you that even before the rain comes that the community can get together and ensure that …those waterways, and even if there is a drainage port that is along the sidewalk, that those things are clear, so that it does not have in the long term, a public impact on those people who live within the community.”

He stressed that resilience was not just the BFS being able to effectively respond to emergencies, but also involved persons within communities ensuring that systems were in place to manage emergencies in the incipient stages when they occurred.

Mr. Patrick gave the commitment that the officers of the BFS would continue to work with communities to ensure that levels of resilience were developed. But, he stated, at the same time residents in communities also needed to play their part in keeping their areas safe.

The fair was held under the theme: Resilience, Reconnecting, Renewal and Retooling. It was the climax of Fire Service Week which ran from September 25 to October 1, and kicked off Fire Prevention Week which runs until October 8.

julia.rawlins-bentham@barbados.gov.bb

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