DESPITE rising temperatures and drier conditions, Jamaica has recorded a 33.6 per cent decline in bush fires compared with the same period last year, a trend firefighters are welcoming even as they urge Jamaicans to exercise greater fire safety and avoid wasting water.

Acting superintendent in charge of public education at the Jamaica Fire Brigade’s (JFB) Fire Prevention Headquarters, Howard Thomas said while national data show an overall decline, concerns remain in St Catherine, Kingston and St Andrew, and Portland, where bush fires continue to pose a threat.

Thomas said the decline, which has been recorded across 11 fire divisions, is encouraging but should not lead to complacency, particularly as dry conditions increase the risk of fires spreading rapidly. He urged Jamaicans to conserve water, especially amid the country’s ongoing dry spell and water restrictions.

“In St Andrew we have seen where, in the last two weeks, fires are happening almost every day, and most of these fires are inaccessible to the fire brigade. We respond, yes, but we have to wait until we can actually reach the fires because they are inaccessible to us reaching there by unit.

“At times we may have to physically walk to the fire or allow it to burn to a place where we can actually fight the fire. Other times, we normally get assistance from the Jamaica Defence Force in terms of assisting us with putting water in the fire, but it’s not readily available at most times because of whatever situation might be happening there, but we still try our best to see how we can reduce these fires from happening,” said Thomas.

He shared that in 2025 Jamaica recorded 5,395 bush fires for the entire year. From January 2026 to July the island has recorded 2,726 bush fires.

The acting superintendent said Kingston and St Andrew have recorded the most bush fires. He said last year, from January to July, there were 400 bush fires recorded in the parishes. During the same period this year, 395 calls have been recorded. He added that Portland is seeing an increase in bush fires from 23 last year to 50 this year.

“Some areas are shooting up, some areas are maintaining, and some are declining. Our sharpest decline has been in Westmoreland, St Thomas, Clarendon, and Hanover. They’re declining in terms of fire calls happening but when you look at the bigger parishes — St Catherine, Kingston — they are not.

“One of the things I realised about St Catherine is that — I don’t know if it’s because of the new access to Highway 2000 — but we have seen fires happening in those areas where you normally don’t get those fires happening. People have access to more land to farm or just to do other stuff, so they clear land and they burn rubbish,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

“We are advising members of the public to, ‘Try your best to ensure that your surroundings are safe from fires. Keep away from the slashing and burning of rubbish that you have disposed of; consider other methods of getting rid of your waste. Think about composting instead of burning rubbish and burning off vegetation to remove from land to prepare for doing your own farming,’ ” he urged.

He said these practices are more important now than ever as Jamaica is experiencing a prolonged drought driven by a strengthening El Niño and long-term climate change, resulting in severely depleted rainfall and record-breaking summer heat. The reduction in rainfall has forced the National Water Commission (NWC) to implement strict prohibition orders and rotating water lock-offs as reservoir levels plunge across the island.

Thomas noted that, as it stands, firefighters have access to water to fight fires but are still urging Jamaicans to comply with water restrictions to ensure supply during the dry period.

“Firefighters generally don’t have much issue with water in terms of responding to fires. We might have issue, yes, because some hydrants might not be giving us that great volume of water that we require to fill up in a quicker time to respond to the fires, but the water is there. We try our best to advise citizens not to waste water because we’re going to need water.

“We still have water. In some areas it might be low, yes, and there are some areas where if there’s no water in the pipes we wouldn’t have water in the hydrants, but the fire brigade and the [NWC] have an MoU where we normally ask them to increase the volume of water in a particular area so we can normally get water at that time. We try our best to ensure that our units are always filled with water, and the fire hydrants are maintained by our team to ensure that when we’re ready to use them, they are good,” he added.

He further stressed compliance with restrictions, noting that these simple measures can help to save lives and property.

“We want Jamaicans to not waste water or to use water carelessly. As the Government warned them about the watering of flowers and washing of cars with a garden hose, so too the fire brigade is asking Jamaicans to maintain that and adhere to what is said by the Government because the thing is, it’s only when a fire affects you that you will see the importance of this restriction of water. So, we’re saying please desist from wasting water,” urged the acting superintendent.

Acting superintendent in charge of public education at the Fire Prevention Headquarters of the Jamaica Fire Brigade, Howard Thomas