Published 14 May 2021
Basseterre
Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
MOST WILDFIRES IN THE FEDERATION ARE DELIBERATELY LIT; FIRE DEPARTMENT CALLS ON CULPRITS TO STOP
Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 14, 2021 (SKNIS):ย St. Kitts and Nevis Fire and Rescue Services isย cautioning the general public to cease and desist from lighting wildfires as most of them are willfully done.
During an interview on the popular radio and television show โWorking for Youโ on May 12, 2021,
Fire Sub-Station Officer Level Two, Rommel Williams, and Sub-Station Officer, Timothy Martin explained the causes of wildfires in the Federation
Mr. Williams said that the causes of wildfires vary as wildfires can either occur naturally or through human activity. However, it is his belief that most of the fires which occur within the Federation are deliberately caused.
โWe are hoping through our sensitization programmes that persons would understand the importance of not deliberately lighting fires,โ said Mr. Williams. “We are saying to persons that you cannot just burn anymore.โ ย
“Once ago we would have given persons permission to burn and you could have easily said that we would have contributed in some way because we gave them the permission to do it, but realising the risks now, we stand back and say that we cannot do that anymore,”ย he said. “We encourage persons not to light fires.”ย ย
He said that they have seen a pattern of most fires occurring during March and June, which has led the department to name it the โpeak fire seasonโ where the dry weather is also conducive for wildfires. ย ย
โSometimes you could see after the fires would have been extinguished, maybe a week or two weeks later, you would see the land is properly farmed, so persons burn for clearing and sometimes unintentionally if you donโt control the fire, you donโt know how far itโs going to spread. They light the fire, and they donโt even stay around,โ said Mr. Williams while adding that โthe fire spreads into other areas and then it causes persons to lose livestockโฆand even sometimes persons may have businesses where they would have containers, the fire reaches the container and then burns everything inside the containers.โ
He further added, โThere are also persons who want to dispose of garbage (and) instead of taking it to the landfill they burn the garbage and sometimes when they burn the garbage the fire spreads again and so you started a garbage fire, and it turns into a bush fire because the garbage spreads over into the vegetation and again you have a wildfire going.โ ย
โThere are areas where depending on the type of vegetation and the thickness of the grass, the heat in the grass might reach to a point where it actually causes the ignition, but I believe the majority of the time, it is persons just being negligent and deliberately causing fires,โ said Mr. Williams.
Timothy Martin, Fire Sub-Station Officer, corroborated what Officer Williams said by adding, โI want to appeal to drivers when theyโre driving, donโt flick cigarette butts out the window. He also said that most wildfires are not started from the heat because many of them are in the night.
โI would like to say it puts a strain on our resources,โ Officer Martin said.
