A grassfire severely charred a considerably large acreage of agricultural land – with palms trees – in The Quarter area on Tuesday, February 10, engaging three fire-tenders and a number of on and off-duty officers who battled the flames for some two hours.
The early afternoon intense fire sent billows of smoke across the neighbourhood and into The Valley area, as the firemen struggled to control the situation. Fortunately, there was no immediate threat to housing or livestock in the vicinity.
Fire Station Officer, Shondell Hodge, who has responsibility for the island-wide response, was at the time delivering a lecture at a training session for Customs Department staff, but hurried to the scene of the fire to supervise the situation.
“It was basically a Class A fire involving combustible material …grass.” He explained. “All domestic appliances were despatched. They included the appliance which we received from Trinidad, some years ago, and which is equipped with over 3,000 litres of water; the appliance we received from the United States which carries 1,000 gallons of water; and the recently-commissioned appliance which was purchased for Anguilla by the UK Government and is equipped with 1,000 litres of water. It also carries a quantity of foam which was used to smother the burnt area. We used that UK appliance to replenish the other fire tenders on the scene. We didn’t want to halt our attack on the fire so that attack remained constant.”
Mr Hodge said it could not be determined immediately what caused the fire. He however referred to two scenarios: one, where some someone could have dropped a lighted cigarette in the area; and the other, where the heat of combustion generated by the sun and oxygen could have caused the fire.
One of the cautions to be observed is that persons should be careful to avoid setting off fires in grassy areas, especially during the current dry spell; and that they should quickly report any fire without delay.
