Rose Hall Fire Station needs more volunteers

Jun 22, 2010 News

ROSE HALL TOWN, CORENTYNE – The Rose Hall Town Fire Station is in need of more volunteers. Chief Fire Officer Marlon Gentle said that there are 17 volunteers at present to lend support when necessary but particularly more men are needed.

Some of the volunteers at the Rose Hall Fire Station

Interested persons must be between 18 and 55 years with good mental and physical agility and prepared to be on call at any hour. The Chief Fire Officer thanked the present volunteers for their commitment.
The facility operates on a 24-hour basis with four firefighters per shift. So far, the location has not been called to action but the staff members stand ready to respond. After the facility was commissioned, 12 firefighters were transferred from Georgetown to the location.
Gentle said that the fire station was needed to bridge the gap in Berbice.
The response time can now be better. East Berbice had only two fire stations; one at New Amsterdam, which is some 14 miles (22 kilometers) from Rose Hall Town and the other at Corriverton some 31 miles (50 kilometers) away.
However, depending on the magnitude of a fire, backup service would be had from New Amsterdam, Corriverton and the Guyana Sugar Corporation’s East Berbice Estates.
The $10.3 million facility was constructed by the Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce (C.C.C.C.) and handed over to Government. Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee, commissioned it on May 22. At that ceremony, he had called the fire station a positive development which deserves wide acclaim.
In commending the job done by the Central Corentyne Chamber, Minister Rohee noted that it is another manifestation of a partnership between Government and the Private Sector.
In fulfillment of a promise, Government handed over a $32 million fire tender with a capacity to hold 400 gallons of water and transport five firefighters.