Port Moresby firefighters to stop services

PORT Moresby firefighters have had enough of being abused by members of the public when they attend to fires. Yesterday, they decided they would take drastic action after one fireman was assaulted at Kanage Street, Five-Mile.
The firefighters met and resolved that they will not attend to any fires at Kanage St area and other suburbs in Port Moresby until their safety was guaranteed.
Fire fighter units in the National Capital District met at the Boroko fire station and raised their concerns about the abuses and assaults after one of them was assaulted at Kanage street while attending to two burning flats recently.
"During many fire incidents, we have been verbally and physically abused, even having our fire trucks and equipment damaged, as though we were the cause of the fires to buildings," said the fire fighter unit spokesman.
He said they were providing services and were harmless but the residents were often abusive towards them during their calls. The spokesman also said that about 500 fire fighters in Port Moresby were categorised as unattached workers since 2012.
"We are fire fighters, putting our lives at risk since it is our duty, and seeing that we are not under any life cover insurance is very hurtful and frustrating. "Therefore, we appeal to the fire fighter units’ management to look into our needs and be more responsible as employers," he said.
Workers also raised concerns about fire tenders, difficulties faced in communication systems, manpower shortage and training needs, community safety education awareness, and the need for on-call fire-police partnership to be strengthened .