MONTEGO BAY, St James – Custos of St James, Bishop Conrad Pitkin, is urging residents to be more appreciative of firefighters across the nation.

His comments came during a recent exercise in which several firefighters in western Jamaica were presented with national awards in the forms of meritorious and long service.

“There are times when I ask myself, does the average Jamaican fully grasp how much the fire service requires of them [firefighters] when they first decide to work as fire personnel,” he related to the gathering at the Montego Bay Fire Station on Monday.

“Do persons in the community realise how important firefighters are?” he further asked about the situation.

He says that some residents tend to only realise how important the firefighters are when they face a challenging situation and need their assistance.

“Everyone becomes desperate when facing a disaster. At such perilous moments, perhaps no one delivers a sense of relief more than the firefighters who risk their lives to answer urgent cries for help,” he stated.

He, therefore, used the opportunity to lament how some individuals continue to use their time to negatively impact the operations of the Jamaica Fire Brigade.

“I am cognisant that regularly the fire department receives many prank calls, but please don’t let it deter you from performing, keep showing your best,” he told the firefighters.

“As firefighters you have chosen to do this not for glory and certainly not for riches, but out of a desire to help other human beings in their most vulnerable moments,” he remarked.

On Monday, 25 firefighters were presented with long service awards ranging from the ranks of corporal to district officer. Their periods of long service to the organisation ranged from 20 years to 25 years.

An assistant superintendent was presented with the award for meritorious service which would have usually been collected in Kingston during National Heroes’ Day activities but was deffered to Monday.

He explained that he was unable to make that day due to circumstances beyond his control, but nevertheless, he was still almost overwhelmed as he collected his award on Monday.

“I am humbled that it was seen fit to recognise me for my 27 years of service to this noble organisation,” he remarked. McLaren supervises the fire prevention department in St James.

He said he has loved every moment of his journey throughout the brigade and would not have it any other way.

“I have loved my job from day one and to get this award only make myself and my colleagues feel like we are doing the right thing,” he stated.

The group of awardees included firefighters from the parishes of St James, St Elizabeth, and Hanover.