By FSSO Derek B. Ambrose

By now it should be well understood that the present Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service has it's foundation rooted in the constabulary. Yes, fifty years ago in the colony of Trinidad and Tobago fire fighting was a part time job done by Police Officers. What fun it must have been looking at Police Officers attempting to "arrest" fires. As we who are trained in the business know, fire fighting is no laughing matter. It calls for specialized skill and training. Thankfully this feature was forcefully brought home in a report commissioned by Major Ronald Godfrey Cox MI Fire E (C.F.O. 1951 - 1958) in 1947.

The Report contained a series of recommendations for the improvement of fire protection in the 'colony'. It also provided the basis for the "Fire Brigade" to become a separate entity from the police force. The provision was given legality with the passing of the Fire Brigade Ordinance 1951 which established the "Fire Brigade" as an autonomous body. This Ordinance, which took effect on January 1 1951, represented the first major statute that shaped the destiny of the current Fire Service Organization.

Since that time many legislative changes have impacted on the Fire Service. The most significant of these changes was the passing of the Fire Service Act, Act 31 of 1965, which established the Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service in its present form. The Fire Service Act as amended by the Fire Service (Amendment) Act, 1997 now chart the legislative course, which the Fire Service is required to follow in its way forward.

In general, legislation is only one source of law, but for most purposes and with due regard to the principal of Parliamentary Supremacy, legislation is viewed as the highest form of law. Even if a statute is in conflict with the common law or any other source of law, the statute must prevail. It is such an important source that it has been said - "A statute can do anything except change man to woman", although in a purely legal sense even this can be achieved.

FIRE AND PUBLIC SAFETY LEGISLATION

Mindful of the dominant status of statutory law, let us examine a synopsis of some acts and regulations that proffer a role on the Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service.