Fire Hydrants in St. James Being Repaired

A total of 357 fire hydrants in St. James are being repaired under a programme being undertaken by the parish’s fire service in collaboration with the National Water Commission (NWC).

Senior Superintendent in charge of the St. James Fire Department, Dolphin Doeman, told JIS News that of the 1,735 hydrants in the parish 1,378 or 76 per cent are in working condition.

“With the assistance of the NWC, we are targeting the repair of five hydrants in each quarter, which should create a safer environment for our citizens,” Mr. Doeman told JIS News.

Work on the first five hydrants was concluded in January and repair work on five others should get underway soon for completion at the end of March.

Mr. Doeman told JIS News that priority is being given to those hydrants that are strategically located, and others that are in built-up areas and along busy thoroughfares.

Some of these areas include Granville, Harbour Street, Barnett Street and Coronaldi Avenue communities.

Along with the repairs, citizens are sensitised about the care and maintenance of the hydrants.

Noting the importance of the initiative, the Senior Superintendent said “it is of critical necessity that fire hydrants at all locations in communities across the parish are in working condition”.

“In the event of a fire, the hydrants play a crucial role in the effective management of fires, as fire trucks normally carry limited amount of water. There will always be instances where additional water is required in a raging fire fight, and it would be a double disaster when at such crucial moment, the hydrant is found to be non-functional,” he noted.

The work in St. James is benefitting from a special grant allocation to the Jamaica Fire Brigade from the Japanese Government, to support an island-wide fire hydrant repair programme.