Minister of Housing, Lands and Maintenance Chris Gibbs is urging landlords to comply with fire safety requirements, while also pledging to reduce the dangerous density of urban housing.
The St Michael West Member of Parliament said some house fires revealed evidence of overcrowded properties, blocked exits and tightly-packed neighbourhoods where blazes can spread rapidly between homes, putting lives at risk.
Speaking at a Stop, Think, Act: Fire Safety Matters panel discussion on Saturday hosted by the St Michael West and City of Bridgetown District Emergency Organisations at St Mary’s Primary School in The City, Gibbs recounted three fires he attended in three weeks.
The third, which occurred at a multi-room rental property, proved the most harrowing, he said. A young woman lodging upstairs had no means of escape when the blaze broke out.
“There was no back door. There were no stairs going down. There was only one way out. She couldn’t get out and she passed away,” Gibbs recalled. “If you are a landlord, make sure that you abide by safety protocols and procedures for your tenants, because these things can happen.”
He also spoke of a broader structural problem: the dangerous density of housing in urban areas in St Michael, which can cause fires to spread rapidly between properties.
Reduce density
“My job . . . is to reduce the density of the urban areas,” the minister said. He pointed to a planned 1 200 home development in Vineyard, St Philip, featuring green spaces, sports courts and a running track, as the kind of solution needed to draw residents away from overcrowded communities.
On building standards, Gibbs said while Barbados has one of the most advanced building codes in the region, it has rarely been enforced. He added that his ministry is working with the Ministry of Transport and Works to strengthen its implementation so that people “build properly and safely”.
The panel featured police and fire officials as well as personnel from Department of Emergency Management.
Sub Officer Ryan Glasgow of the Barbados Fire Service conducted a practical demonstration covering several essential fire safety tools.
He said smoke detectors should be placed at the highest point of the ceiling rather than on a wall, as since smoke and hot combustion gases naturally rise, this allows it to trigger an alert far more quickly and reliably.
(DDS)
