The Fire Services Association has dismissed criticism of the fire officers who sustained serious injuries during a rescue operation in San Juan on Thursday.
Five of the officers, assigned to the San Juan Fire Station, remained warded at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope, up to late yesterday as they were being treated for injuries caused by electrical shock they suffered when the aluminium ladder they were retracting to load on a fire tender came into contact with a high voltage wire.
In a telephone interview yesterday, the association’s president, Leo Ramkisson, defended the officers as he said “they had their hands full all day” before they received a call to rescue the drivers and passengers of three 12-seater maxi taxis that were stranded in rising flood waters in the Croisee, San Juan.
“They get the most amount of action (San Juan Fire Station) and were out on a fire call at a house fire... from that to successfully rescuing passengers from three maxi-taxis out of the flood waters and then the ladder came into contact with the electrical wiring,” Ramkisson said.
He said four officers were being closely monitored at the hospital as they may have suffered internal injuries and brain damage that would not be immediately recognisable to doctors.
Devaughn Gibson, the officer who suffered the most serious injuries, is expected to be warded in hospital over the next few weeks as he requires plastic surgery to burns he suffered.
The driver of the tender, who suffered the least injuries, was discharged from hospital yesterday.
Ramkisson stated that such life threatening incidents proved fire officers should also be afforded the $1 million compensation paid to families of other members of the protective services who are killed in the line of duty.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of National Security said Cabinet agreed to the payment of the sum of $1 million to the estates of members of the protective services who were killed in the line of duty, with effect from January 1, 2013.
“It is no different than someone who was shot in the street and it must apply to us as well. We encounter a dangerous environment every time we respond. They will die three times quicker than the average citizen. We keep going on fires where various types of materials combust and therefore fire officers will suffer chronic illness. It can’t be taken lightly,” he said.
The T&T Guardian understands an internal investigation by the Fire Services has been launched into the incident.
A source said preliminary investigations showed a health and safety officer was not part of the team during the rescue operation.
“These trained officers are required to accompany normal officers to all scenes and would scan the area to determine how best the operation could be conducted without jeopardising the safety of the public and officers. That person would have been expected to notice the low hanging wire,” the source added.