Andrea Downer, Gleaner Writer
Fireman Astley Lindsay
THE JAMAICA Fire Brigade is observing Fire Safety Awareness Week from October 23-29 under the theme: 'Fire Prevention, A Collective Effort'.
IT WAS a day in 1991, just a little past noon. Two little boys, five and seven years old, sat playing on the veranda of their home on Maxfield Avenue in St. Andrew. They were alone. The grille had been padlocked so they could not wander out of the house. Whoever left them alone felt that no harm could come to them.
Shortly after noon that same day, District Officer Astley Lindsay was among a group of firefighters who fought their way through afternoon traffic to get to the scene of a fire on Maxfield Avenue. Residents saw smoke coming from the house and called the Fire Brigade.
ON BRINK OF BEING CONSUMED
Thirteen years later, the burly firefighter sat in his superintendent's office in downtown Kingston and recalled the day he stared into the eyes of two young boys - babies really - who were on the brink of being consumed by flames. With his arms crossed across his stomach, the man who looked liked he could survive many bouts in a boxing ring softened as he explained how he helped to save the boys' lives.
"When we got there, the residents told us that they believed children were inside the house. When we went 'round to the back, we saw two boys at the grille, crying and banging. We used our hatchets to chop the padlock off and took them out of the building."
District Officer Lindsay has many moments as a firefighter of which to be proud. He said some years ago he helped to get an injured motorcyclist to hospital, secured his bike and contacted the man's workplace after the man was involved in an incident in front of the Half-Way Tree fire department. He said he was pleasantly surprised when the motorist came back to thank him about six months after the incident.
TAKES HIS JOB SERIOUSLY
District Officer Lindsay is very passionate about saving lives. Even though he no longer fights fires, he takes his job at the Fire Prevention Unit very seriously. His voice deepened with intensity as he explained what people could do to ensure they are safe if there was a fire.
"When a fire starts, some people try to take things out of the house before they even think of calling the fire brigade. This gives the fire time to spread. When they do call, they expect that we should get there as soon as they hang up the phone, that is not possible," he said.
He said people should try to call the fire department closest to them rather than 110 - the emergency number. He said the 110 call is routed through an operator before the fire department is notified and valuable time is lost. He said people should programme the telephone number of the closest fire department into mobile phones or home phones so that they will be able to dial the fire department quickly. And he had other fire safety tips.
"Every household should have an emergency plan. They should routinely store water in at least two containers in their houses at all times, and especially at night, so that they will have a head start in trying to extinguishing fires even before the fire trucks get there," he advises.
