Government
North Caicos Fire Exposes Need for Fire Service
Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, March 31, 2023 – The need for an active, suitably staffed fire service on the country’s largest islands was in stark relief this week following a massive North Caicos blaze which put lives and property at risk. The Government now says there is a fire truck in the works for the twin islands. 
This is, however, not the first time there has been a promise of adequate fire equipment and properly paid personnel for North and Middle Caicos.
Based on reports, the fire began Tuesday night near Whitby Haven and spread incredibly quickly along dry bush, becoming a full-blown blaze during the night. Residents report being able to see the flames from their homes as it came dangerously near to them.
Arlington Musgrove, MP for the Twin islands, told us that there was no threat to any of the homes, but about four acres of land was scorched.
The matter was so concerning that it was brought before the Cabinet the next day. The Government ‘gave praise to the work done to prevent any harm coming to persons living on the island.’
That ‘work’ was carried out by locals, who toiling overnight, put themselves at risk to make the larger community safer in the face of blaze.
“We were able to contain it by the next day with help from the community. We do have a fire truck in the budget for North and Middle Caicos,” Musgrove told us.
He thanked Junior Gardiner who assisted with his backhoe as well as the DECR team and the DDME community rep
Firefighters from Providenciales travelled over on Wednesday morning to extinguish the last of it.
The issue has repeated itself time and again; back in April 2017 it was the Sharlene Cartwright Robinson administration thanking another group of locals for battling a blaze which happened in Lorimers, Middle Caicos.
Just last year, a resident crew wet down a fire in Middle Caicos.
Over the six years, no elected administration has truly tackled the issue of the less than adequate fire response in the twin islands. The PNP Government says it will settle the issue in the next budget cycle.