Dear Editor,

Last Friday yet another fire struck Rose Hall Town, this time destroying a building housing a private residence and three businesses. This has once again driven home the dire need for a functional and fully-equipped fire station in the township.

A building to house a fire station was completed six months ago in March, but to date it is still non-operational, unoccupied and without a fire engine. Today I passed the building and observed that a concrete driveway has been recently cast, seemingly in the days after the fire. A gutter pipe has loosened from the roof gutter, a window pane at the back of the building is already broken and the concrete trestle made for two water tanks has one tank on it. Electricity and telephone lines still have to be connected to the building. I cannot tell if water pipes have been connected.

While residents await a fire station with a fire engine (and fire hydrants) they would do well to ensure that their buildings are insured and premiums are up to date and that they practise, as always, fire safety. I’m going to buy a fire extinguisher, fire bucket and some white sand.

Yours faithfully,
M. Xiu Quan-Balgobind-Hackett