CORPORAL Leo Bennett, the first firefighter to climb atop the Half-Way-Tree Transport Centre to draw attention to his grouse about the “poor” working conditions of his colleagues, says he’s not shocked that a former colleague climbed the structure last week.

“Members are stressed out, and the welfare is just lacking, so it’s not a surprise to me to see people behaving a certain way. Right now at the [Jamaica Fire] Brigade you have persons who just ultimately stressed out,” said Bennett who, in March 2023, spent more than five hours atop the double-level transport centre, creating nervous moments for his family and Jamaicans in general.

At the time Bennett was a sergeant and had been on suspension for staging a one-man protest on the street in front of the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) headquarters over its 24-hour shift arrangements.

After he eventually climbed down from the transport centre he was demoted to corporal and his suspension lifted.

Last Monday, his daredevil stunt was replicated by former firefighter Shadane Gentles, who initially refused to leave the structure but descended after Bennett climbed up and gave him a hug.

While it has not yet been confirmed why Gentles went atop the building, Bennett speculated it was due to poor mental health.

“We need to look at the thing in its entirety. People see the hug and thing but after that euphoria wears off what’s the reality we face as a people, as a firefighter?” he questioned.

Bennett said that, often, firefighters are exposed to gruesome road fatalities that can be traumatising. This, plus the weight of other personal obligations, he said, put immense pressure on first responders.

“When you don’t take care of our welfare, we malfunction — yuh nuh get the 100 per cent performance that you suppose to get,” he said, adding that people are put at risk when firefighters suffer poor mental health.

Bennett said he is not concerned that Gentles’ action will spark a trend among current and former firefighters.

“I am more concerned about the gross mismanagement of the brigade that is causing firefighters to just lose it,” he told the Jamaica Observer, and advocated for better resources for firefighters.

However, JFB Commissioner Stewart Beckford countered, saying that a number of methods have been explored by the brigade to help firefighters with mental health issues.

“With the best of intentions, the issue of mental health is still a taboo thing in Jamaica. Yes, we know we operate in a stressful environment — not just because you are a firefighter, but in life in general there are always stressors in the environment — and so we have, over time, put resources in place that we believe can assist members if they do need that support.

“We have our psychologists and psychiatrists, we have a network of counsellors and other resource persons who have made themselves available to the fire brigade — Northern Caribbean University is one such institution with its psychology department. We also lean on the police chaplaincy unit from time to time,” said Beckford.

“We appreciate the fact that the job is stressful, and each day they go out and come in there are issues that will cause them to be under a certain level of mental strain that they will need that level of support, so we have been doing a lot over the last few years to ensure that they get that support,” he added.

According to Superintendent Garey Swaby, head of the JFB Welfare and Chaplaincy Unit, of the more than 2,000 serving members, approximately 140 sought the services of the unit in 2024. He shared that personal and work-related trauma were among the main reasons individuals sought counselling.

Additionally, approximately 40 firefighters sought the services of the unit for grief counselling due to the loss of serving members to accidents or medical issues.

However, Commissioner Beckford noted that despite best efforts, some individuals refuse to seek help.

“Oftentimes, members are not necessarily prepared or willing to come forward when they are experiencing any challenges from a mental perspective. We have debriefing exercises once you go to an incident, and [when] you’re back at the station that’s your first opportunity to de-stress, talk about the incident, how is it impacting you, what help you may need, and so on,” he explained.

“We also have peer counsellors who are trained and are in our stations — in most of the stations, if not all — across the country, and they are trained to identify issues in relation to mental health. They know the persons sometimes better than we do, so they can pick up any changes that they may observe in an individual to pull that individual aside,” said Beckford.

He also shared that the brigade, in recognition of the stress that financial obligations can place on its members, has had external individuals come in to advise firefighters on money management, investing, and saving.

“There is still work to be done but we are in a far better place now than we were maybe three to five years ago, to deal with the issues that are impacting our members,” said the commissioner.

Corporal Leo Bennett (right) and former firefighter Shadane Gentles share a moment atop Half-Way-Tree Transport Centre in St Andrew on Monday, January 6, 2025, while a colleague looks on. (Ramon Thompson)

Former firefighter Shadane Gentles makes his way down from atop the Half-Way-Tree Transport Centre in St Andrew with the help of his former colleagues on Monday, January 6, 2025. (Ramon Thompson)

Shadane Gentles (second left) shares a light moment with his former colleagues after making his way down from atop Half-Way-Tree Transport Centre in St Andrew on Monday, January 6, 2025. (Ramon Thompson)

BENNETT… when you don’t take care of our welfare, we malfunction