Stop blocking hydrants – Berbice fire officer to vehicle operators

…over 40 buildings in Region 6 destroyed by fire so far for 2021

Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) Divisional Fire Officer Fitzroy Sutton is calling on vehicle operators to stop blocking fire hydrants in the region.
Even though most of the areas where fires occur in Berbice do not have fire hydrants and firefighters have to depend on open sources of water, the fire officer has issued an appeal as the festive season approaches.

Over the weekend, a fire at a guest house at Linepath, Corriverton Corentyne saw the fire officers having to make several trips to get water to extinguish it. There was no access to any open source of water, and, more worrying, fire hydrants are not in Corriverton. The town of Rose Hall also lacks this essential infrastructure.
In New Amsterdam, which is the other town in the Region, there are 19 hydrants, and
according to the Guyana Water Inc, all are working. However, firefighters have in the past experienced difficulties with both water flow and access to hydrants when attempting to put out fires in the town of New Amsterdam.
Faulty fire hydrants in New Amsterdam are said to be the reason for the fire service not accessing enough water to put out the blaze at Charlotte Street in January 2009.

Failure to access water in a timely manner has resulted in more than a dozen buildings going up in flames in Pitt Street in March 2003.
In June of the previous year, a fire destroyed two buildings also at Pitt Street, and the availability and access to hydrants was again sighted.
In December last year, five persons were left homeless after a fire destroyed a two-storey building at King Street, New Amsterdam. It was revealed that persons had been throwing garbage into the pit of a hydrant in that street.
As the Christmas season approaches, Divisional Fire Officer Fitzroy Sutton has issued an appeal to vehicle operators, and more so those who operate public vehicles, to ensure they do not block access to fire hydrants.
“And I am also appealing to the hire car drivers, do not block out hydrants. Cars need to park 24-30 feet away from hydrants. Desist from throwing garbage in the hydrant pit, because this can hamper our ability in fighting fires,” he said.
More than forty buildings have been totally destroyed by fires in Berbice so far for the year. This, the Divisional Fire Officer says, is worrying.
“We don’t want another fire in our division. I want us all to have a safe Christmas. We will do our best to save you, once we are called in time,” Sutton added. (Andrew Carmichael)