Massive bush fire in Jacks Hill, St Andrew extinguished
Published:Thursday | February 13, 2020 | 1:17 PM
It took 17 firefighters, several members of the Jamaica Defence Force, and the help of residents to extinguish a large bush fire in Jacks Hill, St Andrew which raged from last night into this morning.
Superintendent for the Kingston and St Andrew Fire Service, Julian Davis-Buckles said the fire was a massive one but, encouraged by the support given by residents in sections of the upper St Andrew community, the firefighters were determined to control the blaze.
“The citizens were warm to us. They kept our officers’ phones charged throughout the night, so they could keep communicating with me and the senior management to keep us updated,” Davis-Buckles told The Gleaner.
“One of my officers told me he was on a balcony getting a vantage view as to where the fire was and how far along we are and where the men are located,” she added.
Two units from the Half-Way-Tree and the York Park Fire stations responded to the blaze after a report was made shortly after 8 o’clock Wednesday night.
“We went there and when we arrived we did our assessment and it was initially inaccessible to us. We waited and we watched and we solicited some assistance from the JDF who helped us very well,” she said.
Following an assessment at 10 o’clock last night, the crew decided to go meet the fire.
They used a heavy-duty hose to battle the blaze which Davis-Buckles suspect was fuelled by strong winds yesterday evening.
She said the battle was intensified with the help of the JDF today.
“A section was still inaccessible to us, but this morning the JDF helped us with the bambi buckets and we dropped some buckets of water on to the area that we couldn't’t reach to, so we got approximately 10 buckets of water from JDF this morning and the fire was surrounded and controlled,” said the jubilant senior firefighter.
Based on assessment, the fire did not pose any threat to property, but there were concerns about residents being affected by smoke.
She said that although the fire is now extinguished, firefighters will be visiting the area throughout the day.
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