BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, May 06,2018 - THE Basseterre Bay Road came alive on Friday (May 4) with members of the St. Kitts and Nevis Fire and Rescue Service (SKNFRS) showing off their safety skills in a drill competition.
This competition came as part of their annual week of activities to mark International Firefighters' Day which was celebrated on Friday as well.
The competition played out in four categories – the One Man Drill (male and female divisions), the Five Man Drill and the Endurance Drill. The competing teams comprised of members from the different stations in St. Kitts and Nevis – Basseterre, Tabernacle, Sandy Point, Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport (RLB) and Nevis.
The Basseterre and RLB stations ran a tight race which ended in a tie.
Their speed was tested in the One Man Drill where a member of each team had to roll out a fire hose, connect it to the fire truck, run to the end of the hose and attach the nozzle before the water escapes. Basseterre took the lead in the male division with a time of 21.95 seconds while RLB won the female division with 35.43 seconds.
Target skills and teamwork were tested in the Five Man Drill and this was a delight for the onlookers as the teams’, which comprised both men and women, were tasked with knocking over three sets of drums after attaching three hoses to each other and the fire truck. The RLB station completed the drill with ease and clocked the fastest time of 59.56 seconds.
The Endurance Drill was another crowd pleaser. This drill saw one member of each team suiting up in bunker gear, face mask with oxygen tank and gloves. The men then had to climb up over and down a tall ladder, extend a fire hose before knocking a large tyre five feet across the road with a sledgehammer and ending the task by either flipping or tugging another large tyre some distance.
Having completed the competition, the fire officers came together to display a search and rescue drill where they climbed up the side of Shoreline Plaza to save an officer on the top of the roof who pretended to be injured and could not move.
After safely strapping the officer in a rescue basket, the audience watched on in amazement as the team worked together to carefully lower the basket onto the ground via a ladder and rope. An eruption of cheers were heard as the task was successfully completed.
The excitement did not end there. The SKNFRS surprised the audience with a second competition. This time between themselves and member of the Antigua and Barbuda Fire Department.
The same three drills were performed between both Federations but the St. Kitts and Nevis were unsuccessful in capturing the winning trophy. Antigua and Barbuda took two of the three categories.
The night winded down with a short ceremony where trophies and other prizes were given to the winners. The week of activities ended yesterday (May 5) with a Fun Day at the Newtown Play Field.
