Above: The burnt out building at Crumpton Street where Ronnie Streaks died.

Fire took the life of a 40-year-old man on Sunday night and destroyed a house in Crumpton Street, The City.

Ronnie Streaks, who lived in a two-storey limestone and timber building, died in the fire but the whereabouts of his mother, who resided with him, remain unknown.

Fire officials said the call came in at 11:13 p.m. and fire chief Chesterfield Mayers and 11 officers, utilising four tenders and the CLP ladder, brought the fire under control by 1 a.m. Sunday morning.

The roof of a neighbouring parking garage owned by Kiran's was damaged along with a motor vehicle, owned by the Urban Development Commission. (WB)

Source: The Nation Newspaper - April 22, 2008

Source: The Barbados Advocate - April 12, 2008

Much needed manuals were presented to the Barbados Fire Service recently by SOL Barbados Limited.

The manuals or handbooks, which are the latest ones produced by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) based in the United States, contain relevant information on new toxins and substances and what materials will extinguish fires.

General manager, South Caribbean, of SOL, Roger Bryan, said his company was committed to the Fire Service and that the handbooks would go a long way in the continual education of the officers.

He said there were nine volumes and each station in Barbados would get a set of them.

Bryan said the Fire Service had trained the staff at SOL and they had a close working relationship.

Chief fire officer Chesterfield Mayers said that recently five officers had returned from the United States with an Associate degree in fire technology.

Mayers said while much of the training was done in Canada and the United States, there was a still a lot done in-house, and next month a supervisor's programme would begin. Deputy chief fire officer Anthony Blackman, who thanked SOL for the gift, said the last set of NFPA manuals the service had was outdated, and that the donation showed great foresight on the part of SOL. (WB)

Source: The Nation Newspaper - April 9, 2008

People living along Porter's Main Road, St James, are living in fear of a suspected arsonist.

There have been seven fires there within the last two weeks. The latest incident involves the destruction of around $3 000 in household appliances after a fire was started in a container yesterday.

It was the second time that there has been a fire in the container, the first on Thursday.

Resident Quimby Rhina told the DAILY NATION someone was spotted running away from the scene of the last fire.

"These fires can't be coincidence; it has to be an arsonist," she said.

She added that residents did not think anything was wrong at first but they were afraid now, as the fires were coming closer to their homes.

"We real frightened and disturbed because we have to leave home to go to work and we are not feeling comfortable [leaving]," she said.

Backyard on fire

Early Saturday morning, Sophia Worrell was greeted by a sight no homeowner wants – her backyard was on fire.

"At around 12:30 a.m., I got up to go to the bathroom and I saw the glare and smoke. We [her neighbours] had to use a hose to put it out and later I got up and finished burning the grass so no one could come back and try to finish burning it," she said.

Upset neighbours also complained they called police on Saturday and yesterday but no one came. However, police officers arrived as THE NATION team was leaving the scene.

Verity J. Beckles, who lives in Warrens, St Michael, owns the land where some of the fires occurred. The appliances destroyed in the container fire belonged to his sister, who lives in England.

"I will have my land properly fenced but as I am visually impaired and physically challenged, I will have to find someone to do it.

"I may also put out a reward to the person responsible for the arrest and conviction of the [possible] arsonist because if one house goes up in smoke, they all will," he said. (CA)

Source: The Nation Newspaper - March 25, 2008

A Christ Church man has been charged with setting fire to a grass field at Fairy Valley, Christ Church, on Good Friday.

Henderson Oneal Burke, 38, of Lowther's Hill, is accused of making himself a public nuisance by setting fire to the field.

He was released on $3 000 bail with a surety after denying the charge when he appeared in the District "A" Magistrates' Court before Magistrate Barbara Cooke-Alleyne.

Burke is expected to appear before Magistrate Robert Simmons in the District "B" Magistrates' Court tomorrow. (JR-B)

Source: The Nation Newspaper - March 25, 2008

Above: The building on Constitution Road, St. Michael where Anita Griffith died.

Those driving along the ABC highway, in the vicinity of the Lowlands and Newton junctions, would have found theirs cars literally engulfed in smoke as a cane fire raged just after lunchtime on Wednesday.

Some motorists switched their hazard lights on and attempted to make their way through the smoke which wafted high into the sky and could be seen as far away as the Sir Garfield Sobers roundabout. Others spotted the blaze straight away and turned around taking alternative routes.

Leading Fire Officer, John Bowen, responded to the fire just after lunchtime and spoke of being confronted by a "massive cloud". At around 1:30 pm, he was still on site valiantly fighting the fire at Bannatyne cane field with four fire officers.

Gusty winds ensured that the smoke reached far and wide, and for the fire officers, one of the main challenges of their response was preventing the fire from developing further.

Bowen outlined the tactics employed to delay the spread of the fire, "We're trying to get it under control by counter firing, using back-lighting. This involves lighting some areas first and getting it under control quicker. By lighting it across at different points, it'll burn faster and will come under control quicker."

Residents within the area would undoubtedly have been affected by the billowing clouds of smoke.

Taking them and the residents of surrounding districts into consideration, Bowen noted that radio stations would be contacted to notify members of the public of the blaze with a worse case scenario pointing to an evacuation plan if houses  were indeed threatened.

Bowen advised  that it was difficult to determine how the fire started, since investigations are yet to be carried out to determine the cause.

However, he expressed thoughts that it did not appear to have started naturally. "Fires don't start just like that... very seldom. You'd probably need a magnifying glass to start it."

Source: The Barbados Advocate - March 21, 2008

Attorney General and Minister of Home Affairs Freundel Stuart received a Fire Service Association delegation in a courtesy call and promised to address the litany of "serious concerns" raised on behalf of firemen throughout the organisation.

Mr. Stuart bolstered this assurance with the "high value" he placed on the initiative taken by the four-man delegation to discuss matters including congestion at some fire stations, sub-standard living and sleeping accommodation at others, run-down plants and safety, security and man-power needs.

He was glad for "this useful interface" that should lead to a good working relationship with the Fire Service Association.

President Clarence Hinds led the team that included Vice President Alex Bynoe, Secretary Ryan Austin and Assistant  Secretary Treasurer Pedro Alleyne.

Source: The Barbados Advocate - March 15, 2008

The new expanded ABC Highway had its first major accident yesterday afternoon when a driver, travelling westbound, lost control of his car which crashed several metres away from the Norman Niles Roundabout.

Police said the driver seemed to have lost control of the vehicle, causing the car to run off the road, flip and drop several feet on its roof into the drainage duct, trapping both the male driver and female passenger.

Sub-officer Denton Foster from the Barbados Fire Service told the Press that "upon further inspection we found that there were two occupants in the car so we had to use equipment from C. O. Williams to lift the car by its suspension, from its roof to its wheels and onto level ground.

"From there, we removed the roof of the car by using the Jaws Of Life then got the victims out and took them to the ambulance," he said.

Up to Press time, the SATURDAY SUN was unable to confirm the names of the accident victims, but sources revealed that both were in serious condition at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. (TM)

Source: Nation Newspaper - March 15, 2008

Above: Firefighters at the fire scene in Mangrove, St. Philip discuss how to combat the grass fire.

On Thursday night a grass fire at Four Roads, St. Philip kept firefighters engaged for over six hours after it quickly spread to a nearby poultry farm at Mangrove. The estate which covers an area of approximately 20 acres of lush thick grass also provides hay for livestock.

The Fire Service received a report around 8:00 p.m. and firefighters were actively engaged well after 2:00 a.m battling the fire. The extremely dry conditions across Barbados only added to the frustrations as the fire resisted all efforts to be extinguished.

One Station Officer, two Leading Fire Officers, six firefighters with two fire tenders assisted by two auxiliary tenders (water carts) were in attendance at the fire scene. More than 3000 gallons of water was used during the ordeal as the personnel diligently tried to combat the flames and prevent further fire spread.