Regional conference of fire officials begins here today

Fire Chiefs from the region and beyond, gather today in Dominica, for the annual conference of  The Caribbean Association of Fire Chiefs (CAFC).

This is the second time in five years, that the conference is being held in Dominica. The first time was during “the infancy of the association” in 2004, a release from the Fire and Emergency Services Department states, adding that the body has now returned “as a mature and stronger association.”

According to the release, the conference will bring together “attendees from several Caribbean islands, the US and the United Kingdom.” and “fire chiefs from islands as far north as the Bahamas to Guyana in the south”

Also participating in the conference will be vendors who specialize in products utilized by emergency organizations.

“The critical and invaluable components of our conference are the tutors and participants attending our signature Junior Officers Leadership Academy (JOLA) and our fire challenge. This challenge is a competition between fire officers of the region simulating fire and rescue activities,” the Fire Department release adds.

It is expected that at the end of the conference 22 fire officers, 2 police officers and 2 prison officers “would have been exposed to leadership and management concepts which will redound to much needed improvement in supervision in these organizations,” the organizers state in their release.

The conference starts with an opening ceremony at 9.00 am  today at Windsor Park Stadium Media Center. Shortly afterwards, the JOLA course will begin and the same time, the fire chiefs will go into business sessions, discussions and presentations from vendors and special guests, the release goes on to say.

The event will end on December 6 with a closing ceremony at the stadium at which the Caribbean Firefighter of The Year will be awarded and certificates and prizes will be presented to participants of the JOLA programme and winners of the fire challenge.

However, the conference will not be all work and no play, since, according to organizers, it will be an “activity-filled one for the attendees….class work and sessions during the day and engagements in the evening to savor the taste, sight and sounds of our culture and natural wonder.”