Cry on for working fire hydrants in some parts of Hanover

Western Bureau:

Residents in sections of Eastern Hanover, mainly in the Hopewell and Chester Castle divisions of the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC), are expressing deep concern about the number of non-functioning fire hydrants that are in their communities, stating that any eventual fire could spell disaster for them.

Their concerns have heightened against the background of the fact that five families, consisting of 11 adults and five children, were left homeless in January of this year after fire of unknown origin completely destroyed their homes in the Pondpiece area of Hopewell.

With three fire hydrants in the proximity of the houses that were on fire, the firemen on one fire engine from Lucea in Hanover and another from Montego Bay in St James, had to leave the scene of the fire periodically to seek additional water to assist them in putting out the blaze. This because the firemen said they could not open the hydrants.

The result was that three houses were eventually destroyed by the fire, with an estimated $50 million in damage done.

“There is not a water problem in Pondpiece,” one resident told The Gleaner on the day.

“If only the firemen could open the hydrants to get the necessary support in water, even one, if not more, of the houses could have been saved,” he stated.

When The Gleaner made subsequent checks with the commanding officer for the Hanover division of the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB), Superintendent Terri-Ann Leslie, she revealed that she was made aware of the problem with the fire hydrants in the area, and the matter had been reported to the relevant repair team for the JFB Area 4, based in Montego Bay, St James.

She pointed out that the JFB’s Area 4 Fire Prevention team was responsible for the servicing of and repairs to the hydrants in four parishes in western Jamaica, namely St James, Hanover, Westmoreland, and St Elizabeth, and as such, the matter is up to them for action.

The response was the same when newly elected councillor for the Chester Castle division in the HMC, Wynter McIntosh, pointed out during the March monthly meeting of that corporation that there was no working hydrant in his division.

IMMEDIATE STEPS

Leslie pointed out that the matter would be reported to the Fire Prevention team in Montego Bay.

“With any community in the Chester Castle division, we are at least 52 kilometres from Lucea, 27 kilometres from Montego Bay, and 28 kilometres from Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, and none of the hydrants in the area (of the Chester Castle division) are working,” McIntosh pointed out. Lucea, Montego Bay, and Savanna-la-Mar are the nearest locations of fire stations to the Chester Castle division.

He raised questions as to what immediate steps could be taken to get the hydrants in that area functional.

Leslie told the HMC meeting that she was aware that the JFB had plans to increase the personnel numbers within the fire hydrant repair team in Area 4 “so that we can better carry out our duties of inspection, repairs, and servicing”.

NO COMPLAINTS

While the residents in the Hopewell and Chester Castle divisions, in Hanover Eastern, are having the ongoing problem with non-functioning fire hydrants, Andria Dehaney-Grant, councillor for the Sandy Bay division, told The Gleaner that she was aware that the JFB did some servicing of hydrants in her division recently, and she had not received any complaints since.

“I know that the greatest challenge I have now is that some of the areas in which we would like to place a hydrant we cannot have one because we do not have any water there,” she stated, while naming districts such as Cascade and Patty Hill as having hydrants in place that are not yet connected to the new water-distribution system that has been commissioned in those areas.

Meanwhile, checks in areas in Hanover Western revealed that all the hotels along the coastal areas had their own fire suppression systems in place in case there is a fire on their respective properties.

Marvell Sewell, councillor for the Green Island division in the HMC, told The Gleaner that most, if not all, the hydrants in his division were working, adding that his concern mainly surrounded the availability of water when needed.

“I spoke to the National Water Commission (NWC) recently as we are having a serious water crisis in the division,” he stated, naming districts such as Cave Valley, Orange Bay, Santoy, Winchester, and March Town as having issues with not being properly serviced by the NWC.

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