Press Release

Ministry of Communications and Works
Fire and Rescue Service
Topics: 
Fire and Rescue
Release Date:
Thursday, 9 February 2017 - 2:39pm

Six new recruits have been added to the cohort of fire officers at the Virgin Islands Fire and Rescue Service.

They are Aleem Fahie, Akeem Delpleshe, De’Quante Dabreo, Adrian Stoutt, Annesha Graham and Shaquoy Smith.

The new recruits will have to successfully complete 14 weeks of training after qualifying for the position through interviews and exams.

Chief Fire Officer, Mr. Zebalon Mclean said, “It is going to take that length of time to not only get them into condition with regards to using the equipment and being able to withstand the rigors of fire but also to gain the knowledge of being effective firefighters.”

Mr. Mclean added that the training is based on concepts of fire suppression, rescue systems and emergency response which are assessed through theoretical, physical, practical and oral exams.

The success rate of new recruits for the fire department is 75 percent. The last class to be inducted in 2013 had a success rate of 100 percent with four fire officers. Persons are recruited based on vacancy and the number of prospective recruits to begin at a minimum crew of four. Presently, there are 58 fire officers in the service.

The Virgin Islands Fire and Rescue Service continues to train its officer in becoming capableand effective emergency responders so that they are able to protect life and property from fires.

Photo Credit: Nekita Turnbull/GIS

Audio Clip: Interview with Chief Fire Officer, Mr. Zebalon McLean.

https://bvi.gov.vg/sites/default/files/054_-_cfo_zebalon_mclean-fire_department_gets_six_new_recruits.mp3

Author

Nekita Turnbull

Ag. Deputy Chief Information Officer
Department of Information & Public Relations 
Telephone: 468-2730
Email:  Neturnbull@gov.vg