-EMT unit had over 7000 callouts in 2025

-by NaAsia Bristol

The Guyana Fire Service opened its 2026 Annual Officers’ Conference with a revelation that there has been an over 30 per cent drop in fire calls last year, making it clear that their work to raise awareness is igniting greater fire safety precautions in the general public.

The two-day 2026 Annual Officers’ Conference opened under the theme “Fire Reduction through Technological Innovation and Enhanced Community Engagement.”

Fire Chief Gregory Wickham revealed that the service recorded a 34 percent reduction in fire calls last year. In many cases, firefighters arrived to find the fire already extinguished.

Meanwhile, the Fire Service’s EMT unit responded to over 7,000 emergencies, assisting the injured and even delivering at 12 babies by the end of 2025 and reinforcing its role as a frontline lifesaving agency.

This transformation is being supported by major government investment and modernization efforts, with Prime Minister, retired Brigadier Mark Phillips, laying out the vision for greater fire prevention.

“I’d like to see, and this is a directive from His Excellency himself, to see every neighborhood democratic council having its own small fire tender. Just imagine a small, agile unit that can immediately respond to reports of fire, rush into the scene to contain the blaze, to hold the line until the larger tenders arrive to do the heavy lifting,” he said.

With over 29 stations, new fire tenders, advanced tools, and ongoing training, the service is becoming more efficient, better equipped, and highly skilled.

Minister of Home Affairs Oneidge Walrond noted that as Guyana grows, so too is the need for a greater shift towards prevention.

“For too long, the measure of the fire service is how fast it could respond after fire started. Response time matters. It will always matter. But the most effective fire service is one that reduces how often that response is needed,” the minister stressed.