State Minister Calls for Community Action in Fire Prevention

Minister of State in the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Colin Fagan, is calling for community action in fire prevention and safety.

Mr. Fagan, who was addressing the recent Fire Safety Awareness Week church service in Trelawny, informed that eight children were among the 16 people, who have died as a result of fires since the start of the year, while over 100 people lose their homes to fires every month.

He said that communities have a critical role to play in protecting the most vulnerable from fires, including children and the elderly.

“It is communities, who must put pressure on parents and guardians, who continue to leave their children unattended and return to find their houses ablaze, or farmers who insist on setting fires and end up burning acres of land and threatening residential areas nearby, or criminals, who use arson to both commit and conceal crimes,” he said.

“It is the vigilance and pressure of the community that will make that parent take the child with him or her to the shop instead of leaving the child at home. It is positive community pressure and constant vigilance that will ensure that people with criminal intent will be intimidated by you and stay away,” Mr. Fagan argued.

The State Minister also expressed concern about the number of fake calls to the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB).

“The JFB is suffering from the actions of mischievous persons, who continue to make false fire alarms. This wastes the (limited) resources of the JFB, including the time which would otherwise have been spent terminating genuine fires or assisting the public through building inspections and other critical fire prevention activities. This practice must stop and I am calling on every Jamaican to co-operate in the effort to make prank calls a thing of the past,” he appealed.

The State Minister made a commitment on behalf of the Ministry to continue to support and enhance the efforts of the JFB to effectively carry out its mandate of fire safety and prevention.