History
The Aruba Fire
Department
(Brandweer Aruba)
Aruba, an Island
18 miles off the coast of Venezuela in the southern Caribbean , with an
average daily temperature of 82 degrees, an extremely dry climate and with
the worlds nicest beaches is one of the most popular tourist destinations
in the Caribbean.
The history of the
Aruba
Fire Department (Brandweer Aruba in Dutch or Cuerpo di Bombero
in our language) turned back to the colonial time.
The publication
sheet 1887 # 20 was the first regulation in case of fire.
The firing of two
cannon shots and the raising of a red flag for fire alarm is prescribed
in this document.
The inhabitants
were require to have ready on hand a pale filled with water in case of
fire alarm.
In 1904 the cannon
shots were replaced by horn blowers of the English Garnizoen.
In 1930 a new decree
appeared where the Lieutenant governor is appointed as the commander
of the fire brigade.
In 1954 the fire
brigade was officially taken over by the Police department.
Fire stations were
built in the residential quarters for the police personnel with the purpose
to serve on the brigade.
The alarm system
takes place by means of siren which were installed in these camping.
A number of technicians
were appointed to carry out the vehicle's and other maintenance duty of
the Police force and the Fire brigade
These vehicles are
being stationed in the garage at the airport brigade which are to be used
in case of fire alarm at the airport.
In 1961 the institution
of full professional fire organization became possible by decree. However,
it lasted until 1977 when the former Minister of Justice gave notice of
the definite separation of the Police force and the Fire brigade. The Aruba
Fire Department has made great strides to meet the needs of its citizens
and to protect the thousands of tourists who visit this tiny island nation
every day.
In 1972, a study
was conducted by the Netherlands Government on request of local authorities,
on how to improve fire safety on the island.
In 1973, Aruba sent
its first candidate, Juan Lopez, to an 18 month professional fire officer
course in the Netherlands. Since this focused on municipal fire department
management, he then attended an airport fire officer course in Stansted
(U.K.). and hereafter in 1975 the reorganization of the Fire brigade
started.
Also the setting
up of the municipal professional fire fighting in combination with the
Airport brigade which was made up of 18 civilians.
In 1979 a second
fire station was opened in San Nicolas.
In 1986 Aruba became
an autonomous entity in the Dutch Kingdom where a revision of ordinances started and the also setting up of a new law for the Fire brigade.
Together herewith
the disaster control ordinance has been accomplished.
With the closing
of the Oil Company in 1985, Aruba put a priority in tourism. So it became
evident that it was time to start reorganizing the Fire Department taking
into consideration the many hotels and buildings in construction and the
intensify air traffic.
This has lead to
a dramatic increase in construction of high-rise hotels and apartments
over the past 15 years.
The buildings are
clustered together in a strip on the island's northwest coast near Aruba's
bustling capital city of Oranjestad, which also serves as the island primary
shopping district.
This construction
has added new challenges for firefighters, who are also charged with protecting
a busy international airport, scale 9 and the numerous cruise ships and
other sea traffic that regularly make the island one of their ports of
call.
Aruba is also home
to a large oil refinery that was reopened in 1988 and protected by its
own volunteer fire brigade.
The Aruba Fire Department
provides mutual aids for any large scale incident at the refinery.
In 1989 an reorganization
plan started called "Aruba l " and was stopped by the government in 1995
which year the first Fire Chief left the Fire Department.
We
got another Fire Chief.
Due to a big fire
in October 1995 where a nightclub, a supermarket and a hardware store burned
down, a total of 7 new fire trucks was purchase in
1998 from the E-One company. After a long process we had received four pumpers,
a tanker and a bronto sky lift elevating platform, all built on cyclone
II chassis, and a titan III six-wheel-drive airport crash truck.
Aruba has more
than 8,000 hotel rooms and 12 casinos. About 2,000,000 tourists visit this
island annually and this number is expected to increase. Aruba has
a population of 95,000.
Recognizing the
importance of an active fire prevention campaign, the department introduced
the Fire Prevention Week program in 1976 sponsored by Aruba Female Jaycees.
During this period of time in October, the schools receive instruction
and lectures on fire prevention, and public awareness is high lightened
via radio and television announcements.
A traditional muster
and 10 kilometer run are also held at the fire station on "demonstrations
day" which is open to the public.
In 1991 it became
law that all public buildings comply with most of the NFPA recommendations
for fire safety.
All buildings higher
than two stories must implement or upgrade/retrofit sprinkler and alarm
systems. Also all existing shopping malls will have to comply with NFPA
fire safety regulations in the near future.
In 1994 the third
fire station "tango" was built to cover the high rise hotels within the
5 minutes.
Almost every day,
people and tourist come to the fire stations for tours.
Most of the airlines
fire safety inspectors also visit to monitor preparations in this field.
Positive remarks
are the norm. The Aruba Fire Departments enjoy to receiving both authorities
and tourist visiting the island.
Most of all, the
Aruban Firefighters enjoy when a visiting Firefighters drops by to see
the facilities and shares some experiences with them.
All fire officers and staff
members have a minimum of Bachelor degree in engineering and have
attended the fire academy in the Netherlands and Stansted (U.K.).
Aruba is the first
island in the Dutch Kingdom to provide EMT training (US National register)
for the Firefighters with the support of the Coastal refinery.
The Fire Chief has
been designated the disaster coordinator role, and is responsible
for command and coordination of responses.
We are proud to
say that we are one of the best Fire Department in the region.
Let God give us
strength and wisdom to serve our beautiful community
