Basseterre, St. Kitts, June 1, 2023 (ZIZ Newsroom): The Fire Department is investigating the circumstances surrounding a fire that destroyed an abandoned house in Sandy Point on Wednesday night(May 31, 2023).
According to the Fire Sub-Station Officer in charge of Sandy Point and Tabernacle, Davron Clarke, at about 9:59 pm on Wednesday (May 31, 2023), the Sandy Point Fire and Rescue Unit responded to a report of a house fire in the Alley, Sandy Point.
Upon arrival, the unit met a mostly wooden three-bedroom abandoned house and a nearby large tree fully engulfed in flames.
The unit quickly used water from the fire truck, supplemented by water from a hydrant to extinguish the blaze.
Following the extinguishing of the fire, it was discovered that the blaze may have started from a heap of garbage being burnt close to the property which then spread via an old wooden door.
He added that no other properties were damaged and no injuries were reported.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
]]>BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, May 9, 2021 (MMS-SKN) — Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, Dr the Hon Timothy Harris, on Sunday May 9 joined officers of the St. Kitts-Nevis Fire and Rescue Services (SKNFRS) for a thanksgiving service at the Molineux Wesleyan Holiness Church ahead of a six-week training course for recruits.
“The Bible says in Proverbs 3:5-6, ‘In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He will direct thy path’,” said Acting Chief Fire Officer, Garfield Hodge. “So in marking our commencement of our six-week training, we came here to church today seeking God’s guidance and His protection and wisdom for the six-week training for our recruits of the St. Kitts-Nevis Fire and Rescue Services and that is the whole purpose of us being here today.”
The training course opens on Monday May 10 at the Basseterre Fire Station. In attendance at the thanksgiving service whose sermon was delivered by Rev Ericsson Cumberbatch, who also serves as the Force’s Chaplain, was Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security, Mr Osmond Petty.
The fifteen recruits were accompanied by the station head at the RLB Airport Fire Hall, Fire Sub Station Officer Lesroy Caines, who is the course coordinator, and Fire Sub Station Officer Davron Clarke, who is in charge of Tabernacle Fire Station and Sandy Point Fire Station.
“The recruits are drawn from all fire stations in the Federation, and would converge at the Basseterre Fire Station for the six-week course training where they will be formally trained,” said Acting Chief Fire Officer Hodge. “Prior to that they would have received top notch on-the job training, so they are just as good as trained but we need to make it formal.”
]]>BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, May 6, 2021 (MMS-SKN) — Officers of the St. Kitts and Nevis Fire and Rescue Services joined their counterpart from around the world in the celebration of International Firefighters’ Day on Tuesday May 4 by taking part in a ‘Run through Town’ exercise, and conducting a mini fire drill in downtown Basseterre.
“Today is International Firefighters’ Day, and as part of the commemoration for the International Firefighters’ Day, the St. Kitts and Nevis Fire and Rescue Services would have participated in what we call ‘Run through Town’,” said Acting Chief Fire Officer, Mr Garfield Hodge, on Tuesday May 4. “The aim was to bring about the awareness of the significance of the day and also to exhibit our skills, as we would have conducted what I would term a ‘mini fire drill’ on Fort Street.”
Officers from both the St. Kitts Division and the Nevis Division had assembled at the Basseterre Fire Station where they were addressed by Mr Hodge before they set of for the ‘Run through Town’ which took them through Sundown Road, Bay Road, Fort Street, Cayon Street, Church Street, Liverpool Row, and back to Fort Street.
They converged at the junction of Fort and Central Streets where according to the Chief Fire Officer, “we would have converged and conducted a mini fire drill, exhibiting our skills as firefighters, and showing the public what we do on an ongoing basis, when we would have turned out to a fire scene.”
He added: “Today is a day when we would have turned out with a sense of pride in our numbers, as we had officers from the Nevis Division, and officers from the St. Kitts Division participating in the run. Today, by all accounts, was a success.”
Later on that day (Tuesday, May 4), the Acting Chief Fire Officer delivered a national address on ZIZ Radio and Television in commemoration of International Firefighters’ Day.
International Firefighters’ Day (IFFD) which is celebrated on May 4 is observed to honour the work and sacrifice made by firefighting experts. It was instituted after a proposal was emailed out across the world on January 4, 1999 following the deaths of five firefighters in tragic circumstances in a bushfire in Australia that had taken place on December 2, 1998.
In addition to the run and the fire drill, the St. Kitts and Nevis Fire and Rescue Services officers also held a sale of T-shirts on Fort Street, as a means of raising funds to assist their counterparts in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a country in the OECS which has been ravaged by the eruption of a volcano.
“Superintendent James who is charge of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Fire Department reached out to me in a desperate fashion appealing for assistance for drinking water,” observed Mr Hodge. “Our officers would have put together a package of 100 cases of water, and those cases of water are on the way to St. Vincent and the Grenadines as we speak.”
Taking part in day’s activities were Fire Station Officer Lennox Griffin, who is the second in command in the St. Kitts Division, and is in charge of all stations in the St. Kitts Division, the Basseterre Fire Station, which is the headquarters, RLB Fire Hall, and the two outstations in Sandy Point and Tabernacle.
Others were the Divisional Fire Officer, Ms Mavis Archibald, who commands the Nevis Division; the station head at the Airport, Fire Sub Station Officer Lesroy Caines; the station head at the Basseterre Fire Station, Fire Sub Station Officer Rommel Williams; and Fire Sub Station Officer Mr Davron Clarke who manages the Sandy Point and Tabernacle Fire Stations.
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 05, 2021 (SKNIS): According to St. Kitts and Nevis Fire and Rescue Services, the statistics show that incidences of fire are on the decline.
In an address on Tuesday (May 04, 2021) to mark International Firefighters’ Day, Acting Chief Fire Officer, Garfield Hodge, said that 695 fires were recorded in 2019, which compared favourably to 643 fires reported in 2020. The decline represents a 33.4 percent reduction.
“This significant reduction can be attributed to the effective operation of my department’s Fire Prevention Unit,” Mr. Hodge stated. “I wish to commend my hard-working, committed, and dedicated officers for their commitment to the cause of service relative to fire prevention and fire extinguishment.”
The Fire Prevention Unit is headed by Fire Sub-Station Officer, Timothy Martin. The Unit is responsible for public education initiatives on fire safety and prevention. Ongoing activities include public service announcements, practical demonstrations on how to use a fire extinguisher, and interactive information sessions. The annual Fire Safety Programme, which caters to children under the ages of 12 years, is also organized by the Unit.
“Studies have shown that 70 percent of residential fires are started by children of this age range. Locally, statistics have indicated that there has been a significant reduction in this respect since the inception of this programme over 20 years ago,” Mr. Hodge added.
The Acting Fire Chief pledged that the men and women under his command will continue to live up to their motto “to protect and safeguard the life and property of citizens and residents and the general economy by preventing or reducing the dangers and effects of fires and explosions.”
]]>BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, May 3, 2021 (MMS-SKN) — Ahead of International Firefighters’ Day (IFFD) to be observed on Tuesday, May 4, Acting Chief Fire Officer Mr Garfield Hodge on Saturday, May 1 joined Prime Minister and Minister of National Security Dr the Hon Timothy Harris at the Sylvia Garnette Primary Health Care Facility in Tabernacle, where he urged young firefighters to step up to the plate and get vaccinated.
In a bid to encourage more persons in his constituency to come forward to get vaccinated, Prime Minister Harris, who is the Area Parliamentary Representative for Constituency Number Seven (Bellevue to Ottley’s) has been camping at the health centre every Saturday morning from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon when a Covid-19 vaccination session is held for persons who would not have had the opportunity to get vaccinated during the week.
The Sylvia Garnette Primary Health Care Facility in Tabernacle is one of the four centres on St. Kitts offering Covid-19 vaccinations on Saturdays. The other health centres are Basseterre, St. Paul’s, and New Town.
Acting Chief Fire Officer Mr Garfield Hodge, who is preoccupied with the logistics of a parade by firefighters on International Firefighters’ Day, Tuesday May 4, through selected streets in Basseterre, was at the health centre to talk to a number of young firefighters on the importance of being vaccinated.
“If you are on the frontline, you can contact persons in the country,” Acting CFO Hodge told the young firefighters. “It means that you can either contract the disease or you can transmit it. And if you contract it, we know the consequences if you are not vaccinated – you would either become extremely sick, hospitalised or worst off, death. So it is important to become vaccinated. I cannot stress it more.”
The previous Saturday saw the head of the Tabernacle Fire Station and Sandy Point Fire Station, Fire Sub Officer Davron Clarke, come along with four firefighters take first dose of the vaccine at the same health centre, which Ag CFO Hodge said should serve as an example to the other firefighters.
He was joined by Prime Minister Harris, Nurse Norine Gabriel, who facilitated the vaccine rollout, and Nurse Vivien Greene-Simon who assisted her, as he talked to the firefighters. His efforts to convenience the firefighters were given a boost when one of the three supervisors at the Tabernacle Fire Station, FO McJulien Isaac, said he was going to take the vaccine.
“Your supervisor Mr Isaac is here, who I have to commend,” said Ag CFO Hodge. “He is leading from the front. He has decided to take the vaccine. He has himself to protect, his family, his organisation, and his country. Gentlemen, step up to the plate and take the vaccine for your sake, your families, the organisation and your country. We are here to serve our country. It is country above self, let’s do what is right.”
In the meantime, Prime Minister Harris who continues to encourage people to get the vaccine was pleasantly surprised when Media Practitioner Mr Peter Ngunjiri stepped forward and took his first dose of the Oxford AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine on Saturday at the Tabernacle Health Centre.
“Peter has been around taking many photos of persons who are doing the right thing, and therefore I was surprised to gather he was not vaccinated,” said Dr Harris. “But today I want to congratulate him for stepping forward, and doing the right thing in getting vaccinated.”
The Honourable Prime Minister added: “When we do get vaccinated we do it first for our self to protect ourselves from harm, and from a virus that kills, and has killed millions all over the world. So I want to encourage as many people as possible to move on and take the vaccine, protect themselves, protect their families, protect their co-workers, protect their community and help us to put the country back to work again by getting vaccinated.”
]]>BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, February 04, 2021 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris is of the view that retired officers of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force and the Fire and Rescue Services still have important roles to play in the preservation of peace and law and order in the country.
Prime Minister Harris, who also serves as Minister of National Security, expressed this view when he met with the leadership of the St. Kitts & Nevis Police and Fire Retirees Association at the Office of the Prime Minister on Wednesday, February 03.
The association was represented in the meeting by its President, former Commissioner of Police, Mr. Austin Williams; its Secretary, Mrs. Natalie Fough; former Assistant Commissioner, Mr. Joseph Richardson, and Reverend Leroy Benjamin.
The prime minister said, “I am happy to welcome this group to get a better understanding of the real important role they can play – a role of continuing service to those who have been at the frontline providing support and adding to the safety and security of our country, whether as police officers or those involved in fire and rescue. So I want to commend the leadership for coming forward and to send a message that this association has the highest level support of the Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis and to say that we would work in a cooperative way with the St. Kitts & Nevis Police and Fire Retirees Association to ensure that more can be done for those who have served our country so faithfully and well.”
Prime Minister Harris, who was supported by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security, Mr. Osmond Petty, and Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hilroy Brandy, further noted that the retired officers have an accumulation of hundreds of years of knowledge and experience in the field of law enforcement that can be passed down to active members of the security forces.
He added, “I would like to see more of them involved in providing ongoing mentorship, support and guidance particularly to the new recruits and even to senior level officers. Indeed, in law enforcement nothing beats experience and an experienced cop can really add value in terms of knowledge, in terms of technique, in terms of administration and if we are going to provide outstanding results in adding to the stronger and safer future, we certainly need all of society involved.”
Former Commissioner Williams thanked the honourable prime minister for his strong support of the association and noted, “We will continue to do our part to enlighten, teach, train the security personnel that we come in contact with and we hope for a better and stronger future for all.”
The St. Kitts & Nevis Police and Fire Retirees Association was officially formed in November 2018. One of the immediate objectives is to find a suitable space to serve as its headquarters where its membership can meet more comfortably.
]]>