Death and destruction by fire continue to affect national life in Jamaica seriously, with reports of such incidents surfacing every so often. Undoubtedly, this problem requires serious and immediate national attention.

Fundamentally, we need to develop better fire-safety practices and ensure that proper fire-safety measures are implemented to reduce or better manage incidents of fires. This may necessitate a change to our building code to incorporate mandatory fire-safety measures.

Smoke detectors

In hardly any of the reported cases is there mention of working smoke detectors or other such mechanisms in the affected buildings. We need to move to ensure that every building in Jamaica is equipped, at a minimum, with working smoke detectors.

We have got to encourage, and make mandatory as is reasonably necessary, the need for working smoke alarms, fire extinguishers, customary fire-escape drills, and ridding homes and buildings of fire hazards.

Better-equipped and more fire stations are necessary, especially in the more rural areas of the country, so that greater efforts can be made in fighting fires.

We should probably develop first responder fire units staffed largely by volunteers in the more rural areas, who would begin the firefighting efforts until the assistance from the unit(s) from the larger outer stations could be had.

Many fires could be prevented or the damages therefrom significantly reduced if we had only acted a little more carefully and responsibly in ensuring the appropriate pre-cautionary measures were in place.

I am,etc.,

KEVIN KO SANGSTER

sangstek@msn.com