Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 8, 2023 (ZIZ Newsroom): St. Kitts and Nevis Fire and Rescue Services closed the curtains on a week of activities to celebrate International Firefighters Day with an awards ceremony to recognize those in the field who have been exceptional in carrying out their duties.
The ceremony was held on Sunday (May 7, 2023) at the Solid Waste Management Corporation’s Conference room.
During the ceremony, Acting Fire Chief, Rommel Williams commended the fire officers for their courage and sacrifice when executing their duties.
He stated, “What sets us apart is unlike the law enforcement, the military, or social worker, when it comes to a fire, you can’t talk it down, you can’t negotiate with it, you can’t smother it with love and kindness, and smile at it and hope it decides to go away. No, you can’t. You are dealing with a force that has no sense of reasoning and has no conscience. You are dealing with a force that only this group and no other group can deal with. So, I commend you and I salute you.”
The week of activities was guided by the theme, “Building Resilience, Through Standardization and Consistency,”
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security, Cecile Hull noted that the theme is timely as it fits the overall goal of improvement on the national scale.
“Both modes of operation are pivotal for achieving and maintaining national progress across the board. The Ministry of National Security, specially thanks the St. Kitts and Nevis Fire and Rescue Services for recognizing the importance of starting this type of change on a small scale. The end goal is indeed national change and permanent progress, but without agency and ministerial changes, such will never be possible.”
Following her remarks, awards were presented for the categories, years of service, longest serving STEP officer, most dedicated fire officer on shift 2022/2023 along with special awards categories such as courage to overcome, fire prevention education and long service award.