Fire officer injured after falling out of fire tender

A fire officer was injured when he fell out of a fire tender near the Siparia Market on December 5.

According to reports, the officer was part of a crew on its way to fulfil a Santa Claus request in a water tender.

Near the market, a door opened and the officer fell out of the tender.

He was taken to the Siparia Health Facility where he was treated for minor injuries and discharged.

National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds, acting Chief Fire Officer Andy Hutchinson and members of the Fire Officers Association were unavailable for comment.

Investigations are ongoing.

There have been other safety incidents involving fire officers this year.

In January, association president Keone Guy said nine officers had been injured in two weeks due to faulty equipment.

In one incident, two officers were injured while responding to a fire on Observatory Street, Port of Spain. The metal arm supporting the basket in which they were working collapsed.

One officer was left with a fractured leg and the other had chest injuries.

Guy said a preliminary investigation had determined the collapse stemmed from “some form of mechanical failure” but a full investigation still needed to be done.

He said  concern was growing as this was just one of several incidents that resulted in fire officers being hospitalised.

“We've had more than nine officers who have had to be transported to hospital as a result of injuries while (using) fire service equipment. Six of those officers were transported to hospital after an accident in the southern division and that was on account of some known defects in a vehicle.”

Guy was confident the accidents were because of poor maintenance.

In a statement in January, the Fire Service said the safety and welfare of its officers is its first priority.

In May. a female fire officer threatened legal action against the State after she was injured while inspecting and testing a wooden ladder in training at Fire Service Headquarters in Port of Spain in January.

Speaking in Parliament on April 12, Hinds said he had no information to suggest wooden ladders commissioned by the fire service in March 2020 were unsafe, or to suggest the ladders breached the Occupational Safety and Health Act.