The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) was called on by the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) to conduct a presentation on fire response before attempting their quarterly fire drill.

Sergeant Garfield March and Private Marlon Rodgers of the JDF Air Wing Fire Base were the JDF representatives.

Sergeant March, who was the main speaker, wasted no time and explained to the group what is fire and its many classes. “Fire is the rapid oxidation and evolution of heat and light,” said Sergeant March.  

“There are five classes of fire A, B, C, D and K,” he explained.   Class A fire is fire which is caused from wood or paper, Class B is fire which is caused by liquid or gases, Class C fire is fire caused from electricity, Class D fire is fire caused from metals such as titanium and magnesium and Class K is fire caused by combustible which are meat and fat.  

After explaining the five classes of fire he went on to explain how to use a fire extinguisher by the use of the acronym ‘PASS’, which means pull, aim, squeeze and sweep. The group was excited and could not wait for Private Rodgers to demonstrate using the fire extinguisher.

At the end of the presentation Sergeant March urged the group not to throw water on any fire because it could be dangerous.   A member of the EOJ group, Mrs Reynolds, thanked the JDF for an interesting and informative presentation.