- Untrained firemen, empty fire tender anger residents
A logger of the Upper-Berbice community of Kwakwani is counting millions of dollars in losses after a building which houses 24 of his workers and several machinery went up in flames on Wednesday afternoon. Inshanally Bacchus who owns logging concessions in the Upper-Berbice River, said he is disappointed in the way the fire situation was handled. He explained that the fire tender turned up to the scene with limited water to out the fire and the officers were ill-equipped and untrained to deal with the situation. “They can’t go to a fire blaze with an empty tanker, if they were equipped they could have saved something at least the saw room or something,” the distraught Bacchus said.
They wooden building that was completely destroyed he said, was constructed 12 years ago. The building also housed several machinery including 10 chain saws, four outboard engines amongst other things, that were all destroyed. His living quarters and some additional structures were partially destroyed.
Speaking about the situation was regional councillor Elroy Adolph, who said the situation could have been avoided if the officers were trained and the tender was equipped. “We have a fire wheel that could not serve the purpose because at that time we did not have enough water to do it and the men that were around did not know what to do, how to put out the pump, all they knew what to do was to drive it to the location and took half an hour to get out the little water that was in the tank,” Adolph said.
He is calling on the relevant authorities to correct the situation earliest.
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