FIREMEN ACROSS THE island are quietly waiting for a fire to begin ­ not to show their fire-fighting capabilities, but to reinforce their point that they are without proper equipment.

"We are like children without parents ­ just some orphans," said District Officer B. Richards of the Rollington Town Fire Station.

When THE STAR visited the station recently the driveway was empty and the news team asked if the truck had responded to a call. We were told, however, that they did not have a truck, and have been without one for several months.

If a call is made to the station for help, the station has to call the York Park Fire Brigade to respond. But Rollington Town isn't the only station without a truck. In St Elizabeth, where there were recently a number of bush fires, there are at least two stations, Santa Cruz and Junction, without a truck.

Other problems

The problems of the fire department do not end there however. Firefighters islandwide are also affected by the lack of other basic equipment and the poor state of the stations.

At the Rollington Town station Richards says their shutter which should secure the premises, is currently up and cannot be closed. Included in the plethora of complaints, he said they are without the basic equipment, such as their necessary breathing apparatus and protective gear. They are even without a chainsaw, he said.

When THE STAR visited a number of other fire houses across the island, their complaints were of the same kind ­ they were without their basic, yet necessary equipment.

As if on cue, when THE STAR team popped in at the Half-Way Tree Fire Station, an emergency call came in. The men of course hurriedly put on their clothes, opened the gates, and ran to the truck ­ each man poised in their rescue positions. Minutes later they were seen coming off the truck, taking their uniforms off, and closing the gates ­ their truck could not start.

Struggling

The Acting Assistant Superintendent, Denies Lyon, said the lack of equipment, has left them struggling. "That truck is a truck that was donated to us last week, and look at it. You saw for yourself, it works when it wants to." He also said their oxygen tanks were full, "however if there was to be a fire like the one that happened at King's Plaza, then the oxygen that we have wouldn't serve."

In the fire which occurred in January at King's Plaza in Half-Way-Tree, the firemen complained that they were unable to adequately fight the fire because they did not have sufficient oxygen tanks to enter the building. In an interview done for THE STAR after the fire he said, "It wasn't the lack of effort, but lack of equipment. The men and the women here are committed, but they are just not supplied with the equipment."

Superintendent Lyon said, "There is one crucial piece of equipment that every fire station should have, and that is the jaws of life, but there is only one in the Corporate Area and it is at the York Park Fire Station." Lyon explained that the 'jaws of life' is the equipment used to rescue people who are trapped in their vehicles during an accident.

Senior Superintendent Raymond Spencer, the head of Operations in Area 1, which includes Kingston and St. Andrew and St. Thomas, told THE STAR, "We are short of everything necessary to discharge our functions. There is a lack of breathing apparatus, and the necessary equipment to evict people. Things such as protective equipment, fire boots, gloves, alert signalling system in case we are lost or in danger. There are also not enough helmets and even when we have those we don't have any hoods to protect our necks."

But, Superintendent Spencer says it's the unreliability of their fire units that is his main concern. "If you patch it up today, by tomorrow it is down. Fire trucks are not made and put down in a showroom like cars. We will not be able to deliver the service that we are here to deliver if every third of the way the trucks break down."

"Take for example, the Fire Boat Station, which is along the Kingston Waterfront, it has been out of service for a number of months. Now, if something should happen the entire waterfront is without coverage."

When THE STAR visited the Fire Boat Station, the representative said they are currently without a boat, thus unable to respond to any fire that should arise. He said the boat was repaired several times last year, then it went out of commission in January.

He said because they are responsible for the Harbour line - from the Norman Manley International Airport to Jamaica Customs ­ it was extremely difficult to do anything without a boat. "Thank God that they practise safety in Industrial places."

He also said that the men who had been stationed there have been moved to other fire stations such as York Park, because their station is currently "off action."