Mek wi fix it! - LASCO contributes $300,000 to fire-safety campaign

LASCO Distributors has committed $300,000 to the Jamaica Fire Brigade's (JFB) Fire and Life Safety Awareness Campaign designed to educate children on how to prevent fires and how to protect themselves in the event of a fire.

Each year, the last week of October is celebrated as Fire Safety Awareness Week, with the theme this year being 'Mek Wi Fix It ... Make Fire Safety and our children our priority'.

As of October, the campaign reached an estimated 30,000 children in those areas served by the JFB.

LASCO made the announcement at the recent launch of Fire Safety Awareness Week at the Spanish Court Hotel in New Kingston, where Krishta-Gay Lewis Harewood, LASCO Distributors brand manager, said fire safety is the responsibility of everyone.

"We cannot and should not rely solely on the Jamaica Fire Brigade to arrive on scene to save our treasured spaces. LASCO challenges every Jamaican to seek to educate ourselves on best practices for fire safety, then implement them, use them, and repeat. For the more ambitious few, challenge yourself to become a fire warden," Lewis Harewood said.

"Fire safety is everybody's job, and that is why LASCO Distributors has committed $300,000 to the Jamaica Fire Brigade that will go towards their goal of extensively expanding the promotion and education of fire-safety practices islandwide," she added.

The money will be put to good use, as was highlighted by Julian Davis-Buckle, acting chief and prevention officer at the JFB, who explained the motivation behind this year's theme.

She revealed that 88 children have died in fires since 2009, six of them this year. "That is 88 graduations not attended, 88 weddings you won't see, 88 generations going up in flames. We can't take any more. For us at the Jamaica Fire Brigade, this is way past our threshold of zero," she said.

This, Davis-Buckle said, has prompted the JFB to increase their efforts to expand the promotion and education of fire safety practices, with children as their primary targets.

They began their campaign in May, visiting schools each Friday to make making children aware of fire-safety methods. In September, they engaged eight schools in areas served by the JFB.