FOR about 15 firefighters the fire stations from which they serve in western Jamaica became their home in the wake of Hurricane Melissa, not because of the demanding workload but because the erratic weather system rendered them homeless.

Jamaica Fire Brigade Commissioner Stewart Beckford told the Jamaica Observer that preliminary estimates indicate that 193 firefighters were affected by the Category 5 storm. A breakdown of the figures showed that 25 firefighters from Westmoreland, St Elizabeth, St James, and other affected areas had their homes totally destroyed, while 168 had significant damage to the place they lay their heads after a hard day’s work.

Among those affected are firefighters who were just recovering from Hurricane Beryl and who are now, once again, forced to pick up the pieces even as they save lives and secure livelihoods.

According to the commissioner, the brigade is working to assist its members and has sent a detailed report to the Government, but with the physical damage to Jamaica estimated at US$8.8 billion and existing procurement processes, this assistance will likely take time. As such, Beckford is appealing to corporate Jamaica to help provide immediate relief to the first responders.

“The reality is that now is the time the firefighters really need the assistance of corporate Jamaica because they spent their time pre-, post-, and during [Hurricane] Melissa answering the call for help while their own properties were being destroyed by the storm. Some had families at home that had to seek alternative accommodation, and them not being aware because of the fact that the phone systems and all of that communication system went down so early, they would not have been aware of what their own family was going through while they were out responding to emergency calls

“When that was allowed — because there was a time when we had to ground all our units and we just couldn’t respond from our stations because it was just too dangerous in terms of the level of wind and water and the roads and the blockages and so on — it was a tough period for them, and it continues to be challenging,” said Beckford.

He told the Sunday Observer that the destruction to property mainly affected firefighters in Westmoreland and St Elizabeth. Some of the firefighters, according to the fire chief, have left the stations to seek shelter elsewhere.

“I think that number probably would have been reduced based on the fact that some persons would have found maybe a relative with whom they probably can stay, some would have secured alternative accommodation, where that is available, because that is a challenge as well. Because you’re in an area where every house, or every other house, has been affected, and so even if yours was badly damaged and you need a space to rent, you just can’t find it.

“That is one of the major challenges, especially in Westmoreland and parts of St Elizabeth where the housing stock in these areas have been decimated in large measure. And so the urgency of the matter now is that we look at a rebuilding plan and see how we can assist them in starting that process so that they can have a roof over their heads, maybe even before the Christmas holiday sets in, because I don’t know what it would look like to have them still living in the fire stations during the festive season,” he said.

The fire chief committed to doing whatever they can.

“And if corporate Jamaica wants to come on board they can contact us and we will sit to discuss how they can assist us, but what we really are focusing on now is really the rebuilding of the houses of these firefighters [and] those that may have lost roofs, to see how we can re-roof some of them,” he told the Sunday Observer.

Beckford said, too, that the brigade has already reached out to organisations and building suppliers for assistance and that they have skilled artisans who are lending their talents. Firefighters who have children and have lost everything are a priority as they seek to return members to some level of normality.

“I was in dialogue with my team in Westmoreland and there is one firefighter there [who] has a one-year-old daughter, and he has secured some building materials; there are some other materials that he is in need of. I’m trying to assist him in that regard and to organise a workday or two and go down and assist him to commence the process of rebuilding…that is the plan that we have,” he said.

Pointing out that helping those affected to rebuild is paramount, Beckford said the job that they do is very demanding.

“We need them to be very much at their optimum best, or as close to that, when they are on the job because [of] the risk that is associated with the job that they do. We can’t have them at work where their minds are elsewhere,” he insisted.

In the meantime, the fire chief said firefighters are still called on to serve because they are emergency responders and are not afforded the luxury of staying home as they recover. In fact, between Hurricane Melissa making landfall on October 28 and November 19, firefighters have responded to 143 calls, the majority of which had to do with structural and electrical fires.

Recognising the mental toll this can have on the members of his team, the commissioner said mental health services have been made available to those who are traumatised, feeling depressed, and are in need of emotional support.

“What we have done and continue to do is, we are in touch with a number of agencies that offer this kind of support. Up to Monday of last week we had a session with a couple of these entities that have indicated a willingness to go out and assist our personnel. Our chaplain has been making the rounds, having group sessions, one-on-one course sessions.

“We have also leaned on entities such as Northern Caribbean University and the Seventh-day Adventists across the country, where they’re available, because the truth is, their members have also been affected. And that is the cry that we are hearing, that, ‘We want to help your team members but we are a little bit constrained right now because we do have a number of our own members who we are paying attention to.’ And that is understandable,” said Beckford.

He added that the brigade will, over the medium term, continue to seek other avenues for members who are badly shaken up and will need the support going forward.

“Melissa was unprecedented; we have never seen anything like this. I’ve been in the service for 35 years and I would have been through a number of weather events, I would have also experienced Gilbert, but never in my wildest dreams — when I decided to venture out to visit with the teams out in those divisions that I realised had been the most affected — I didn’t envision the kind of damage and devastation that I would have witnessed going out there.

“It’s just an indication of the magnitude and the severity of what the country has gone through. And I know that there are persons out there that are not just our firefighters who are suffering at this time and so we will continue to pray and hope that some way, somehow, they will find the resources to be able to rebuild,” said Beckford.