Rayon Dyer, Gleaner Writer
DAVE MCLAUGHLIN, senior deputy superintendent in charge of the St. Elizabeth Fire Brigade, has said that of the 190 calls to the department during the month of February, 20 of them were not genuine fire calls.
He was speaking at the monthly general meeting of the St. Elizabeth Parish Council on Thursday where he also tendered the monthly report of the brigade's operation for the parish.
"Last month was very hectic for us as firefighters in St. Elizabeth, because 154 of the genuine fire calls that we got were for bush fires," Mr. McLaughlin told the meeting.
He explained that as a result of the various bush fires in the parish, some 100 farmers had suffered severe damage to numerous crops in areas such as Woodside, Tryall, Banton Town and Ballards Valley, among other districts in southern St. Elizabeth.
NO RELIABLE UNIT
Addressing the question of the status of the fire units, Mr. McLaughlin said that at the moment, only two of the three fire trucks in the parish were working.
"I must tell you that these trucks which are in operation are not reliable, which means that they can fail one way or the other at any time. The Santa Cruz Fire Station is without a fire truck because we are still awaiting spare parts to effect repairs to this unit," said Mr. McLaughlin, adding that the conditions under which firefighters have to work in the parish remain poor.
