Each fire tender carries 450 gallons of water, lasts only 2–3 minutes – Fire Chief

Fire Chief Gregory Wickham has clarified that fire tenders are always fully equipped with water when responding to emergencies.

Speaking on this week’s Safeguarding Our Nation programme, Wickham stated that each fire tender carries approximately 450 gallons of water. With proper management during active firefighting, this supply typically lasts only about 2 to 3 minutes.

Because of this limited onboard capacity, firefighters rely heavily on external water sources such as hydrants, canals, or nearby bodies of water to sustain operations during larger or prolonged fires.

Two years ago, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces President Dr Irfaan Ali had asserted that the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) play a role in the development of emergency mapping services.

President Ali had contended that, “in every region, I am tired with the fire tender turn up and they don’t know where the drain is, they don’t know where the trenches are… Is there a cluster map? How do we develop a cluster map for every region, and then a cluster map for different communities?”

“For example, Grove-Diamond is a massive urban settlement, where is the cluster map that points out exactly where a trench is, where a drain is, where water source is? And then where is there a water source that we can keep all the time, that we can just go to and use and we mark it off?”

“We have to develop what we call emergency mapping services for our country…
The President has said the GDF can work along with other agencies, such as the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), or even the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), “to have a full understanding of what they’re doing, and develop strategy maps”.

“The Guyana Defence Force must know where assets are; where the national assets are…and not, in a case of emergency, we’re looking to see who has a ladder and who has a hammer…”