The Guyana Fire Service’s 66th anniversary was celebrated today, October 12th, 2023, with a March Pass Parade featuring the firefighters, Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), firefighting apparatuses, and EMT Ambulances.

The parade, which was led by the Guyana Police Force Band, stepped off from the Square of the Revolution around 7:35hrs. It continued onto Brickdam, where the ‘Eyes Right Salute’ was given to the Honourable Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. Robeson Benn, Chief Fire Officer Mr. Gregory Wickham, and the Deputy Chief Fire Office, Mr. Dwayne Scotland, by the platoons in front of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The parade ended at the Central Fire Station, Stabroek, Georgetown.

During his brief remarks, Minister Benn indicated that today’s parade also means that we should take a step back and re-evaluate.

“We have to reset, rethink, and take introspection to carefully identify what we need to do to have continuous improvement in the fire service.”

Moreover, Minister Benn stated, “We have been working hard to retool the Guyana Fire Service. In terms of its assets, we also have had, and are still ongoing, a strong program of building new fire stations and expanding the service over the entire country eventually.”

He added, “But as we move forward, we have to assess every event and the environment in which we operate to continuously make sure that we raise the level and standard of professional engagement in service and the prevention of fires.”

Minister Benn made mention of the many fires our country has had thus far, including the tragic Mahdia fire. He also highlighted the many instances where fires were maliciously set.

“This year has been a particularly challenging year in respect of issues relating to fires. I need not remind ourselves of the Mahdia fire, particularly. But also, the fact that we have increasingly a great number of maliciously set fires.”

In closing, Minister Benn noted, “So even while we transform, we have to take account of the new challenges and changes. And we have to take account of the changes in our economy, which will require greater engagement and understanding in relation to fire prevention.”

Chief Fire Officer Mr. Gregory Wickham indicated that seeing the firefighters all decked out during the parade meant a lot to him.

“It means a lot. It speaks volumes; it speaks of our readiness to respond to emergencies. It speaks of our strength, our inner strength, that we’ll have to call upon many times to get our job done.”

He noted, “The job of a firefighter, and I must include our emergency medical technicians. It’s not an easy job. But we must respond to all these occasions, whether they be medical or fire. And we have been doing so effectively and efficiently. And so, the people of this nation can depend upon the services being offered by the Guyana Fire Service, which include the ambulance service.”

Mr. Wickham stated that due to climate change, there has been a great increase in grass fires, or, as it is also referred to, wildfires, which are in most instances set by persons to clear land for the purpose of planting or farming. However, he noted that the Fire Department, along with all the agencies, have put systems in place to deal with those occurrences as they arise.

The Chief Fire Officer advised members of the public to take extreme caution when lighting fires in open spaces.

“We continue to advise members of the public to ensure that if you’re going to use fire as a means to get rid of waste, then you must be able to supervise it. For those in the backlands and interior locations where you have those fires, you must be able to do what we call trenching in order to stop fires from spreading.”

He went on to say, “Generally, sources of water need to be maintained, and drains need to be kept clean. Where there are reservoirs, those also need to be kept clean and preserved for any issues relating to firefighting.

Mr. Wickham also highlighted some challenges firefighters face. “Some of the issues we have had are because of the terrain where some of these fires are; the areas where some of these fires are way out of where our fire tenders can reach, and so firefighters will have to do what we called ‘foot it’ to get to those scenes, or however we have been doing so.

The parade was comprised of five (5) units: the grey and black contingent, the female contingent, the Emergency Medical Technicians, Fire Kit, and Sports contingents with approximately ninety participants. There were also three water tenders, three ambulances, and three support vehicles.