Individual responsibility of protecting our children

FIRE AND Life Safety Awareness Week is once again giving us the opportunity to focus our minds on our individual responsibility of protecting our children, our communities and ourselves. Many fires and the devastation they caused could have been prevented if everyone knew and observed basic fire-safety procedures and practices. The time has come for all communities, especially where there are overcrowded housing conditions, to become fire safety conscious.

October 1 through to the October 26, 2018, the Jamaica Fire Brigade will be observing Fire and Life Safety Awareness Week, under the theme: ‘Mek Wi Fix It. Make Fire Safety and Our Children Our Priority’. Let us not see this as an exhibition to be observed only for one week and then forgotten. But let us seriously consider the ramifications of remaining ignorant to resourceful information that could save lives and property.

We all must work together in the continued education of the country in order to minimise the fire disasters that may occur. We must ensure that our children, persons with disabilities and senior citizens are included in our fire and life safety plans because they are often the innocent victims of the fires that could have been prevented.

I am heartened by the support the brigade has received from the private sector and other agencies of government towards the staging of the week’s activities. For this support, I say thank you on behalf of the entire brigade.

We the members of the Jamaica Fire Brigade will continue to fulfil our objectives and secure a safer Jamaica for all to enjoy. We also implore you, the wider public, to think safety first and to develop safety habits, as we remain your Jamaica Fire Brigade; ever committed to the carrying out of our mandate of ‘Saving Lives, Protecting Property.’