THE flames are still burning in the east St Andrew hills and moving into St Thomas. No one can predict when the fire-struck landscape will recover, but the personnel of the fire department, members of the Jamaica Defence Force and the Constabulary, along with citizens of the affected areas, are combining their efforts to get the ordeal over and done with.

This being Jamaica, this is drama with subtexts and all. As the various communities take a beating, everybody has a story to tell and “plenty carry go, bring come” to deal with in the tradition of telling even what we know nothing about. The earliest chapter in the current drama is the story of a woman (identity unknown), who was alleged to have set fire to an old mattress because she had acquired a new one. The legend is that the old mattress fire subsequently grew into the raging inferno, destroying crops, denuding the hillsides, and striking fear into the hearts of everyone.

A source — who knows things — says it is not correct to say that it was the mattress-burning which set off all the fires in the east St Andrew hills. Two other areas had been ablaze before the old mattress was ignited.

What has followed is not a matter of which fire came first. Nothing can be gained by arguing over the sequence of events. While it would have been helpful to have talked with the mattress-burner to get her side, she has left her community to escape the hostility of her neighbours who do not take kindly to things and alleged that it was she who started the terrible assault on the neighbourhood and so placed them at risk. Her whereabouts are not known now, but the rumours abound about the mattress burning.

Not many people seem to know that there is an ordinance against setting open fires in a community. The ordinance is on the books but apparently is not enforced as much as it should be. In this dry season, fires are lit all over and many people show no remorse for what they have done, which can bring harm to life and property.

The ‘burning mattress’ story has made its way overseas, confirming the belief of many of our family, now living elsewhere, that the country “mash up fi true”. It is not so much “mash up”, as the fact that there are too many of us who seem to live in the belief that, “Is my property. Nobody can tell me what to do.” So we still burn charcoal openly. We dispose of garbage through burning; no matter how many times we are warned against pollution and other dangers. That anyone would want to burn an item like an old mattress, in windy weather, is beyond comprehension. Couldn’t it have stayed for another time?

This story might well become part of our history, like Mrs O’Leary, a Chicago resident of the 19th century who was blamed not for striking a match, but for owning a cow which, while being milked, kicked over a lit lantern, which started the fire. Cow and owner became seminal figures in an American story when the town lost hundreds of its citizens and the blame was laid on O’Leary and her cow — an allegation which it is said she stoutly denied. (The cow’s view was not heard).

Various questions are being asked about our fire service across the island. Why does the Kingston Fire Brigade, for example, not have a substation which would give them quicker access to the hilly areas? A former mayor of Kingston and member of parliament, Emerson Barrett, a born-deh resident of East Rural, recalls that while he was a practising politician he moved more than once for action for the substation to come into being, making fire control easier, especially when it comes to getting water to the scene of fires. For whatever reason, such a request still has not been met. I’ve been made to understand also that the present Kingston brigade has a large vehicle which could carry much more water than it does now. Granted, transporting many gallons of water uphill is no easy task, but the sooner it can be made easier, the better.

Bigger than likkle we

In case it has missed you, drought is on. The land is scorched, the earth baked, and streams no longer flow freely. We are challenged by lack of rain. Of course, we have the usual grumbling about how “di Govament” should have collected water by this. Collect water from where? If the ponds and rivers are running dry, where will water come from? A conversation and, more importantly, action on climate change is still missing. We need to understand it is a serious concern for the whole world. We don’t seem to get it.

Headlines

‘Take your nose out of women’s wombs’ If the bizarre headline was meant to be a grown-up comment, it is nothing more than a juvenile attempt at sophistication. Really?!

‘Man charged with abduction of 14-year-old girl gets bail’ I understand “innocent until proven guilty”, but it brings no comfort while we wrestle with the current epidemic of child abuse.

gloudonb@yahoo.com