Commissioners hear Fire Station, male dorm now outfitted with new equipment

Nov 02, 2023 News

Mahdia dorm fire COI…

Kaieteur News – After it was said in the Commission of Inquiry (COI) that the Mahdia Fire Station had lacked a number of key equipment on the night of the fatal fire at the Mahdia Female Dormitory back in May, the fire station is now not only outfitted with new equipment but now has a new water well drilled.

This observation was made when the COI Commissioners, namely Major General (Ret’d) Singh, the Chairman of the Commission, Attorney-at-Law Kim Kyte-Thomas, and Chairman of the National Toshaos Council (NTC), Derrick John visited the location on Wednesday. Yesterday, the Commissioners among other officials visited the fire station, the dormitory, the hospital, the secondary school and the alternative water supply source that was mentioned by the fire service, to gain a comprehensive understanding of the area and the events that occurred on the night of the fire.

A fire extinguisher and fire alarm system installed at the Mahdia males’ dormitory.

During his testimony to the COI about the fatal incident, Officer-in-Charge of the Mahdia Fire Station, Ryan Scott had mentioned that the lack of tools such as breathing apparatus, breaking-in equipment and water truck among other tools, had hindered their response to the fire. On Wednesday, while visiting the fire station, the Commissioners were informed that most of the equipment requested by the fire station to help in firefighting is now in place.

Scott told media operatives yesterday that following the fire they have now acquired a ‘jaw of life’, a disc cutter, power saw, small and big sledge hammers, fireman axe and two breathing apparatus. “Those are part of the equipment we would need for use, to break in, in terms of responding to a fire scene and to enter a building with easier access. These are breaking tools, and if there is a vehicular accident, we can use them to extract persons from the vehicle also,” he explained.

Some of the fire equipment the Mahdia Fire Station received following the dormitory fire.

Kaieteur News was informed that the very next day following the fatal fire, the fire station had received a water bowser truck which will now aid with its current 11-year-old fire tender. Sub-Officer Scott said they have now been provided with a newly drilled water well which is set to cater for about 5,000 to 8,000 gallons of water.

When asked if having the equipment in place on the night of the fire would have helped the fire service in combating the fire, Scott said it would have made a great impact but it would have still been the same result due to the fact that the fire service was informed late about the fire.

He went on to explain that the fire service is always prepared to respond to any type of fire but everything is based on time consumption. “ No fire is the same. So there is no amount of preparation you can put in place to say you are preparing for the next fire. What we do is continuous training, so in case there is an emergency, we respond, but it means that we need to have the call in a timely manner,” he said.

He added that there are different stages of a fire and if it meets to the “flashover stage” there is not much they can do other than containing the blaze. “One of the main reasons why the fire got out of hand when we received a call, is because when we arrived, the building was fully engulfed with flames and that clearly shows an indication that the fire was burning between 15 to 20 minutes before. So we arriving with all the equipment that was needed at that said time, the results would have been the same, due to the fact that we had a late call,” the Sub-Officer commented.

It was reported that before the fire, the station had no landline service in place, calls were made to the Sub-Officer via his cellphone. On Wednesday, it was observed that the fire station is now equipped with a landline phone.

The Commissioners on Wednesday also visited the male dormitory which is similar to the female dorms to get an understanding of the structure that once housed the female students. There it was observed that after the fire, the males’ dormitory is now outfitted with fire extinguishers and a fire alarm system. This publication had reported that the deadly fire which occurred on May 21, 2023 reportedly began in the lavatory area of the female dorm and quickly spread trapping the occupants. The fire claimed the lives of 19 girls and a 5-year-old boy. A 15-year-old girl is currently facing 20 murder charges in connection with the fire.