00:00The Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service has received six new fire trucks.
00:05President of the Fire Service Association, Kion Gai, welcomed the arrival,
00:10saying the appliances will be deployed to several stations that have long been without proper equipment.
00:16The identified station so far, I know, includes Woodbrook Penal, the Mayaro Fire Station.
00:23The latter are those two stations that were built and appliances were never purchased.
00:28So we're quite pleased to see them receiving those appliances here.
00:34And Woodbrook has gone more than a decade, almost a decade and a half, without an appliance.
00:38Gai says the fire service is hopeful the trucks can be operational within weeks.
00:43However, before they can go into service, the appliances must first be inspected and commissioned.
00:49I know that some officers would have traveled across Spain to receive some training,
00:55hands-on training on minor repairs, on small repairs, on small repairs on the appliances.
01:00And then we'll have the commissioning of the vehicle.
01:03He added that training for officers and operators is critical before the new systems are deployed.
01:09Most importantly, before the vehicles come into service, there must be some training and familiarization
01:16of some of the new systems by the fire officers and the operators.
01:20Despite the arrival of the new appliances, Gai says the fire service still faces major challenges,
01:27largely due to inadequate funding.
01:29We need additional funding to purchase personal protective equipment like helmets, firefighting gloves,
01:37and no-mic suits for fire officers, which is the base protection required to engage in structural firefighting.
01:44We also need hydraulic rescue tools, what most people know as the jaws of life.
01:52Presently, less than 50% of the stations that are functional are without some form of hydraulic rescue equipment.
02:01That has severely compromised our capabilities when it comes to providing rescues at road traffic accidents
02:10and often requiring aid from nearby stations.
02:16Gai also highlighted serious structural concerns at several fire stations, particularly in East Trinidad and Tobago.
02:24The upgrades to fire stations across Trinidad and Tobago.
02:27In San Diego, the fire station often makes the news for the dilapidated state in which it's in.
02:34We have a number of challenges, electrical and structural, at the Arima fire station.
02:40Those officers at Crown Point fire station in Tobago have a number of issues,
02:45and we would like to see the reoccupation of this cargo station back in Tobago.
02:50The Fire Service Association president says while the new trucks represent a step in the right direction
02:56for improving public and officers' safety,
02:59they are not a complete solution to the long-standing issues facing the service.
03:04Charlotte Kisto, TV6 News.
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