As the Guyana Fire Service celebrates its 65th anniversary and observes Fire Prevention month, Fire Chief Gregory Wickam has expressed the Fire Service’s concern over the growing number of fires in Guyana, with a noticeable increase in fires that were maliciously set.

“We have noticed a significant increase in fires being set maliciously by persons unknown and that is something that bothers our minds as fire fighters. We plan therefore to have more educational programmes. And we have been extensively training not just members of the Fire Service, but members of the public, members of the community policing, members from the Ministry of Education who would do security, so that they are able to do first aid firefighting in the event of these activities”, the Fire Chief said.

In the past two years, the Guyana Fire Service has found itself fighting a number of large fires that involved offices of the Guyana Police Force and at least three schools. While most of those fires have been blamed on electrical issues, the Fire Service has found evidence in the others of deliberate setting.

The Fire Chief said the Fire Service continues to face a number of challenges in fire fighting efforts.

“When you go to some of these fires, there are members of the public, with good intention I believe, they would come between the operations and fire fighting procedure and so we would have to advise and educate them about the fire fighting procedures because there are things they need to stay away from”, Mr. Wickam said.

It was noted that the Fire Service was able to service more than 150 fire hydrants across the city and that has been able to help the Fire Service in its efforts.

The Fire Chief said the service will continue its efforts to better educate members of the public about the dangers of fires and the preventative measures that they should put in place to safeguard their premises from fires.

The Guyana Fire Service has also been encouraging businesses to ensure they have fire safety systems in place, including sprinklers and alarms.

A number of events are being hosted by the Fire Service this month as it observes its 65th anniversary.

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