Fire Services Association: Plethora of issues affecting Tobago officers

THE SECOND Division Fire Services Association says there are a “plethora of issues” affecting fire officers in Tobago.

The association’s president Leo Ramkissoon and members of his executive visited the island’s three fire stations on Wednesday and Thursday to experience, first hand, the issues affecting officers

At a news conference on Thursday outside of the Scarborough Fire Station, which is still being housed at the former Old Grange Police Station in Carnbee, Ramkissoon painted a dismal picture of the association’s findings.

On April 14, 2019, a fire destroyed a significant portion of the Scarborough Fire Station, on Bacolet Street.

After the incident, officers were accommodated briefly at the Crown Point Fire Station before being relocated to the old police station in Carnbee, pending the completion of the substantive Scarborough Fire Station.

The physical structure the Bacolet station is more than 95 per cent complete.

“In Scarborough, refurbishment work have been done to some degree but it is not yet complete. From our view, having visited the site, it is just minor work to be done but that work needs to be completed as soon as possible and the officers returned to the facility in the interest of the public and their own health and safety.”

Saying the existing three fire stations are in “a very deplorable state,” Ramkissoon said the problems were compounded by the lack of fire tenders, the “ineffective state” of existing fire tenders and the lack of personal protective equipment such as breathing apparatus, which, he believes, affects the officers’ ability to respond.

He said at the Scarborough Fire Station, in particular, there are no trucks available to the officers to perform their function.

“In fact, the situation is such that in many instances the officers are finding themselves having to respond to fire calls using their on vehicles, using whatever equipment they can muster so that they can serve the public in times of need.”

Ramkissoon added, “This is a clear demonstration of the officers commitment to serving the public and protecting the lives and property of the public. But is also demonstrates a salient issue that is often overlooked, that this matter is placing an enormous psychological strain on the officers because the officers are placed between a very hard place and a rock.”

“When instances arise when officers are needed to respond to emergencies and having to make a decision whether to break the law in operating vehicles that are clearly a threat to public safety and not compliant with the vehicle laws, then they are placed in a very difficult, conflicting situation.”

Ramkissoon said the Crown Point Fire Station has outgrown its usefulness and must be reconstructed.

“The station is cramped. It is dilapidated. There are various issues stemming from plumbing issues to infrastructure.

“It is outdated so that it allows for a build-up of carbon monoxide inside of the station where the officers are housed so that in itself poses respiratory risks.”

He said fire officers are also exposed to heavy dust and sea blast “So that they are constantly bombarded with issues that affect their own comfort and health and safety in performing their duties.”

Ramkissoon urged the Ministry of National Security to address the matter post-haste.

“We have been promised over and over. And we are saying enough is enough. That station needs to be reconstructed as promised over the years.”

Regarding the Carnbee station, Ramkissoon said, “That, in itself, poses a threat to the public such that the officers have to make a seven to eight-mile trek in most instances to get to Scarborough to respond to the public.”

He observed the Roxborough station, which was formally opened on August 4, 2020, already has some infrastructural challenges.

“We inspected that station and we seem to have some serious structural challenges that need to be looked at.”