ACTING assistant commissioner and officer in charge of the Fire Prevention Division of the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) Emeleo Ebanks is encouraging Jamaicans to report any leaking fire hydrants in their communities.

“Once you see water coming from a hydrant, go into the nearest fire station or call the nearest fire station and report it. You can also call us at the JFB headquarters and report it, especially if you are located in Kingston. The easy number to remember is (876) 922-0007,” Mr Ebanks said, on the JIS Television programme Get the Facts.

He said the information received will be sent to the Fire Prevention Division, adding that the situation will be logged and a team will be dispatched to assess and carry out the repairs.

Ebanks, who is also the public relations manager of the JFB, emphasised that it is important to report fire hydrants that are not functioning properly.

“If it’s not functioning well, it is not going to serve its purpose, and in the event there is a fire in the particular area and that hydrant is not working properly, it will not be able to assist us, and we will not be able to assist you as efficiently as we ought. So, it’s very important that you report all situations with fire hydrants,” he urged.

Ebanks also called on Jamaicans not to damage or put anything into any of the fire hydrants.

“We have gone on scenes and are about to couple up the hose on to the hydrant and when you look, there are juice boxes, food boxes and persons would have stuffed things down into the hydrant’s valve pit, which is the area you would turn to operate the hydrant from. All of these things will slow down the operation,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Jamaica Fire Brigade has been on a drive to repair fire hydrants across the island. Ebanks noted that when the JFB started this initiative, just over 30 per cent of the more than 15,000 fire hydrants islandwide were working.

“At this time, about 70 to 80 per cent of those hydrants are working and I want to applaud the fire hydrant teams [as] they worked relentlessly and around the clock to ensure that these numbers are up,” he said.

“As the premier emergency response agency, we have to ensure that a part of our corporate plan and operational plan is to ensure the efficiency of these fire hydrants,” Ebanks said.