EARLIER, when the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) celebrated its 38th anniversary, Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee remarked that so far for this year 87 buildings had been destroyed, while 23 others were severely damaged by fire.   He added that 10 precious lives were lost (these included five children and five adults), while 227 persons were left homeless.
 For a country with a relatively small population these figures are extremely high and will definitely go up, because we still have a few more months left in this year.
 Of course, the physical loss is measurable but the trauma and emotional scars and life-long agony of the loved ones and relatives and close associates of those who perished cannot be measured.
 What is also so hurtful is that these fires were all preventable but carelessness, recklessness and in some cases lack of commonsense contributed to those destructive fires
Rohee revealed that the causes of most of those fires stemmed from unsafe practices, such as carelessness, leaving children unattended, theft and unsafe use of electricity, as well as the  malicious use of fire to create destruction of properties.  
“These actions need to be urgently addressed by all stakeholders to reduce these types of fires occurring in various communities countrywide. Fire Prevention Week also calls our attention to the life-saving work our fire-fighters perform. These courageous professionals are on the scene during an emergency, fearlessly entering smoke-filled buildings even as people who are able to rush out of them,” Rohee said.
“Over the past few weeks,” he said, “there have been several fires, causing the loss of precious lives or serious injury, leaving in their wake damage totalling thousands, maybe even millions of dollars. Guyana can ill afford this waste of resources, human or otherwise; yet the very brutal fact remains that every time a fire gets out of control, people face the very real danger of serious injury or death, or the destruction of their property or prized possessions,” Rohee declared.
It is therefore most welcome to hear the announcement by the minister that the GFS is on a continuous expansion programme with  the Diamond Fire Station  soon to be completed; a new training facility is under construction at Leonora; the Hinterland Community Fire Prevention Programme is under way; certain areas -- namely Lethem, Mahdia, Kwakwani, Mabaruma, Kumaka and Port Kaituma – will shortly be provided with fire-fighting capabilities; and the GFS will be receiving additional tenders and water tankers to boost its current fleet, as the emphasis on increased water-carrying capacity is undertaken in areas where water resources are sometimes hard to come by and pose a challenge to fire-fighting efforts.
The government also intends to support re-introduction of the ambulance service, vital to the country, and forming part of the humanitarian services provided by the Guyana Fire Service,  while the marine fire- fighting capability is also receiving active consideration for its resuscitation in the near future.
 These are all positives and they  need to be implemented in the shortest possible time because the present trend with fires is alarming; and with the current boom in the opening up of new businesses and commercial activities, particularly in Georgetown, the probability of  having fires will significantly increase.
The minister said that each of us can take precautions in our homes to safeguard our loved ones from the hazards of fire. Parents and guardians should also take the time to discuss and practise emergency plans with children in the event of a fire.
The minister is definitely correct because the entire responsibility of fire safety cannot be left entirely upon the GFS.
 Fire safety is everybody’s business. To use one of the lines of our national poet Martin Carter: “All are involved, all are consumed.”