Chief Fire Officer Elvis Weaver is concerned about the recent increase in house fires, many of which he said were the result of carelessness by the occupants.
“A couple of the fires have been started by carelessness even though we, the fire prevention unit, continue to educate the public. We are still discovering that people are very careless, you know children are playing with matches and lighters and those kinds of things.”
According to official reports, the Fire Department recorded a total of 23 fires between April 11th and 23rd.
Firefighters tackled a major blaze in Hatton around 5 am yesterday in which two wooden houses were destroyed, leaving nine people homeless; while over the weekend, the home of East Vibes Steel Orchestra in Potters was burned to the ground.
Additionally, a vagrant lost his life in a fire which gutted the dwelling he frequented on Fort Road last weekend.
Weaver disclosed that the fire in Hatton was reportedly caused when a child forgot to turn off the stove after heating up some food.
Due to the alarming numbers, Weaver has indicated the Fire Department intends to conduct educational drives in the most vulnerable communities.
“We will be embarking on a rigid fire safety prevention drive into the communities. Some of the topics they will be dealing with are children’s fire safety, home cooking fire safety, electrical fire safety, bush fire safety, and general fire safety prevention.
“We are targeting certain communities who seem very prone to a lot of fires like the Golden Grove area, the Hatton area and Point and Villa. These are the areas where the houses are very close,” Weaver said.
