Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 11/Nov 07:51

Frightening fire failures

WE LIVE in a country where a government minister and two of her children can perish in a fire and, almost one year later, accountability as to the exact circumstances is left outstanding. That alone tells us about the deficiencies of the state’s emergency response. But further confirmation has come with the fire station fiasco of November 7 in Sangre Grande. Luckily, an early morning blaze in a mini-mart at Vega de Oropouche did not result in the loss of human life. That mercy is largely due to the timely intervention of a neighbour who raised the alarm around 3 am. Yet, 15 people, including seven children, were left homeless. One person suffered burns. Cars, laptops, refrigerators, TVs and other appliances were destroyed. A dog perished. Unable to secure temporary accommodation, victims had to be initially housed, incredibly, at the constituency office of the relevant MP. The neighbour who probably saved the lives of all concerned acted in a timely way. The same cannot be said about the response from fire station officials at Ojoe Road. After a delay, a fed-up resident drove in his boxer shorts to the building, which is in a state of visible disrepair, and found it shuttered. An officer emerged and reportedly said, “We’ll come just now.” Not even that promise was kept. It seems the arrival of “first” responders was impaired by a defective truck; reports suggest there is only one fire tender attached to the station and it was down for maintenance. Resources were diverted from the Arima Fire Station – the same beleaguered one at the centre of MP Lisa Morris-Julian’s 2024 death – kilometres away. Just one fire station in Sangre Grande covers Valencia, Toco, Matelot, Manzanilla, Mayaro and environs. This, as that catchment area has developed over the years, with a conurbation of businesses, supermarkets, food outlets, churches and hospitals. Millions in grant funding and the release of more resources may well be coming to deal with the overall state of the system, which Minister of Homeland Security Roger Alexander has described as “a mess.” But it could take time for tenders to be bought, per the requisite standards and transparency, and for internationally sourced funding to materialise. Meanwhile, authorities should think outside of the box. For a start, the division of the service into just four areas should be reconsidered so that the needs of far-flung areas are better met. Outside gas tank regulation, building and planning codes need to be enforced and publicised; communal measures devised. It might be a hassle to do this. And it might be expensive to beef up the service in the long run. But this month’s near-miss is yet another reminder that it would be too costly not to. The post Frightening fire failures appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.