Trelawny gets the promised replacement fire truck
Published:Friday | May 28, 2021 | 12:06 AMLeon Jackson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
The Trelawny branch of the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB), which lost its only fire truck to an out-of-control fire more than a week ago, now has a replacement, thanks to the honouring of a commitment that was given by Emeleo Ebanks, the public relations officer for the JFB.
“We are looking at providing a replacement truck within 24 hours,” Ebanks, told The Gleaner hours after the fire, two Thursdays ago, which occurred in the community of Georgia.
While noting that investigations were ongoing as to the circumstances surrounding the destruction of the truck, which is valued at $100 million, he is satisfied that it was not a case of maintenance failure.
“It is a fairly new truck that did not have any report to indicate there may have been a maintenance issue. It is early days yet and investigations are in progress to determine what happened,” stated Ebanks.
According to reports, the unit was in the process of putting out a bush fire when it ran out of water and became air locked. Efforts to restart the truck failed and the fire, which had become quite aggressive in the heavy winds, quickly engulfed the truck, completely destroying it.
News of the destruction of the truck left Falmouth’s Mayor Colin Gager devastated, as while expressing delight that the firefighters who were at the location were able to escape the fire unscathed, he said the loss of the truck was a terrible blow to the parish’s effort to respond to fires in an efficient way.
“The parish cannot be without a fire unit, but I am confident that the JFB will be making arrangements to have a unit in place shortly,” said Gager, prior to the arrival of the replacement truck. “The firemen who were engaged in the fire are receiving counselling.”
Prior to the destruction of the truck, the leadership of the Trelawny fire department was busy formulating plans to expand its services to the southern part of the parish, where a new fire station is slated to be built.
Businessman Kenneth Grant, president of Trelawny Lay Magistrates Association, stated earlier this year that land has been identified to construct the station in Albert Town, a populous area in that section of the parish.
In December 2020, Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie told the House of Representative that 30 new fire trucks were ordered to replenish the nation’s fleet.