NGO to honour firewoman for bravery

Oct 17, 2021 News

By Shervin Belgrave

Shekel Rogers assisting her colleagues to extinguish the fire that destroyed some makeshift apartments located at 172 Charlotte Street on Tuesday, October 12, 2021

Kaieteur News – The United Bridge Builders Mission (UBBM), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) will be honouring a “brave” firewoman who reportedly risked her life and own safety to assist her colleagues to extinguish a blaze on Charlotte Street in the capital city.

CEO of UBBM, Bonita Montaque

That firewoman is Shekel Rogers, a single parent, who had left her job as a slot machine attendant at a casino just to become a fire fighter. She reportedly joined the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) in 2016 and has been on the frontline fighting fires since then.
At around 21:21hrs on Tuesday October 12 last, the alarm at the Central Fire Station went off alerting on-duty fire fighters that there was a building on fire at Charlotte Street.
Rogers was off-duty at the time but driven by her passion for her profession, she decided to head to the scene with her colleagues. When this media house arrived there, a slim woman, clad in nothing but a dress, was seen assisting the firefighters to connect hoses and pull them and even brave the heat without the necessary protective gears.At first, it was thought that she was one of the fire victims assisting the fire fighters to quickly extinguish the fire that was fast destroying some makeshift apartments at 172 Charlotte Street.

To be honoured for her bravery, firefighter, Shekel Rogers

She was full of energy, and while neglecting her own safety she ensured that her colleagues stayed away from danger, and was even instrumental in helping to save a firefighter’s life. The firefighter was on top of the roof of the burning building trying to put out the fire with a hose when he almost fell into the inferno. It was Rogers’ quick eye and loud voice that alerted her colleagues that he was in danger.
“Oh gosh yall come quick, Liverpool falling in. Liverpool…Liverpool,” she shouted.
The young woman even mounted a fence and held onto the high-pressure hose as her male colleagues assisted Liverpool and the others. She was also sharp with ideas on how to tackle the fire before it became “disastrous”.
“Aye come lift up this zinc and put the hose deh… Aye yall leh we pull the hose and tek out the kink,” she was heard instructing her colleagues.
It was only after one of Rogers’ superiors asked that she assist him in consoling one of the distraught fire victims that it became clear that she too was a firefighter.
The victim, a woman, was crying and unwilling to speak with investigators, firefighters and the media but Rogers along with her colleague managed to console the woman and gather the relevant information. With a diary and pen she jotted down each detail while assuring the woman that she will receive help and that all is not lost.
The press had witnessed her bravery and dedication to her job and had even labelled a hero. However, the GFS in a statement had related that Rogers was reprimanded for breaching protocols by fighting the fire alongside her colleagues without her protective gears.
But the statement from the GFS was not well received by members of the public many of whom flocked to social media platforms to advocate for Rogers to be honoured for her bravery.
UBBM is one of the organisations that will honour Rogers for risking her life to assist her colleagues. UBBM’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Bonita Montaque, told Kaieteur News that her organisation “plans to honour Superwoman Firefighter, Shekel Rogers, in the upcoming months for her bravery and heroic actions while fighting a fire.”
She said that based on information UBBM received, “Rogers has always executed her job with excellence, going above and beyond to save lives and contain fires.”
“While she may have been off schedule, she has proven yet again frontline workers are always able to save lives and properties whether on or off schedule,” said the UBBM CEO.
Montaque added that she is not pleased with the counterproductive policy and action against Rogers by the GFS (reprimanding her for breaching protocols). Moreover, UBBM is calling for all related departmental matters against Rogers to be dropped immediately. Instead, “she deserves recognition and promotion,” Montaque added.

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