CRY FOR HELP FROM THE FIREFIGHTERS

Dear Editor

We are firefighters of the National Fire Service where things have gone from bad to extremely worse. We’ve been trying to get answers from our supervisors, the National fire Service and the Ministry but nobody seems to care.

We think this is the only way our concerns will be looked at. The concerns are:

1. Is it because Orin Smith is the Deputy Fire Chief, Ted Smith’s brother, the reason he goes on almost all the overseas studies (there is a spot in the PSR that says something about family members working in the same department. We don’t have a copy of the PSR but we know it speaks against it.)
2. 2. Promotions? Why are some of the guys being promoted who have failed their promotional exam and no such exam was never retaken. Why are some jumping ranks while others are being passed over? Why are others being promoted without even sitting the exam? Correct us if we are wrong, but promotion does not give you knowledge and it sure does not upgrade the operational readiness of the NFS. (In order to get promotion in the NFS you must sit and pass promotional exam. Both theory and practical.)
3. Who is advising the Chief in his decisions because I think they are incompetent as he is because junior firefighters are being placed in locations such as Caye Caulker to cause havoc. A resort burnt down out there because a private job to pump out a pool was done and the pump was never refueled. The Officer in Charge was allegedly drunk in a bar and the resort owner had to take fuel from his boat for the pump during the fire. After that incident a junior firefighter was sent to work out there; he had a problem with alcohol here in Belize City and guess what, the problem followed him to Caye Caulker. He crashed the fire truck while drunk.
4. And last but definitely not the least, what happened to the missing $16,000.00 from the NFS?

We love being firefighters but because of poor management we are being demoralized. This letter is not personal but fair is fair. So please Mr. Minister and Mr. Fire Chief, take a closer look at the NFS and you’ll see that there are a few good men left there that are being stifled and frustrated. It is completely difficult to take a stand because if we do, we become subject to victimization.

We’ve already lost two of our good men; one went naturally with the maker (God Bless His Soul) and the other to resignation because he was demoralized. Please don’t let us lose any more of our men because of your incompetence.

Firefighters for Life

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