GAZETTE Setsmeet Guantanamo the Honorable J.A.G
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Jamaican Minister GAZETTE setsmeet Guantanamo The honorable J.A.G. Smith, the Bay, Cuba Jamaican minister of labour, will be meeting with all Jamaican em- ployees at the elementary school amphitheatre on Thursday afternoon Volume 36 Number 9 Wednesday January 14, 1981 at 3:30. Buses will be departing from Bay Hill Barracks and the Tryzna Village area at 3:15 p.m. for those Jamaica lauds GTMO's helping hand needing transportation. Mr. Smith will be accompanied by Mrs. Barbara Hall of the Manpower When it became obvious that there marshall an d his assistant. at our government's request, to Services Division and Mr. Granville were insufficient chemical stores In a pre ss statement, the Prime get aid from Guantanamo Bay we Williams, the parlimentary and equipment in Jamaica to con- Minister th . anked the U.S. Govern- should never underrate the bond of secretary to the minister of trol the fire, Prime Minister Edward meant for it s speedy response, and friendship that exists between this labour. OSeaga, (through the ambassador), subsequent press coverage has liber- country and our neighbors to the . All Jamaicans are encouraged to officially requested United States ally mention ned the United States' north. Never have USA interests let attend. Government help during the morning assistance. us down in a time of distress and of January 10th. this recent disaster has seen vet Within hours, the commander,Toti end, the January 12th another example of their willing- Program change Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, dispatch- "Daily Glea ner" editorial stated: ness to assist us." ed to Montego Bay twenty 55 gallon "We owe a great debt of grati- President Carter will deliver his drums of light water (foam), 8,000 tude to the U.S. Government whose This is the first time in years farewell address to the nation to- pounds of equipment, the base fire ambassadori acted with expedition, that Guantanamo has been the sub- night at nine o'clock. ject of praise in Jamaica. TV-8 and FM-103 will carry the Captain John H. Letterman Jr., address live. Fire Chief Gonzalez and their associ- The premiere episode of "Soap" Cold snap breaking ates cannot be praised to highly and other TV-8 programming will be for their rapid and helpful respon- delayed 30 minutes but will be air- se. ed in its entirety. A French tourist seeking the sun Locally, the weather has warmed arrived in Florida weather this since yesterday with seasonably cool morning and immediately began look- temperatures forecasted for the next ing for warmer accomodations in several nights. Jamaica or Haiti. Yesterday morning's temperature Response earns kudo The hardest freeze of the cen- marked an all time low for the day tury damaged Florida fruit and having reached 60 degrees. The pre- A fire of unknown origin which States Government in the form of vegetable crops. The temperature vious low for Jan. 12 was.62 degrees broke out on January 10th, caused fire experts, chemicals and equip- in the state capital of Tallahassee set in 1956. an estimated 6.2 million dollars ment flown to the area from the plummeted to eight degrees. The record low for Gitmo.was set in damages at'ESSO's storage facil- Naval Base-here in Guantanamo Bay, At least six deaths were attri- three times: Feb. 5, 1958, Jan. 10, ity outside of the tourist resort Cuba. buted to the weather. 1956 and Jan. 20, 1977 with the mer- of Montego Bay on Jamaica'a north ESSO's losses caused by the fire The bone-chilling cold is hang- cury dipping to 57 degrees. coast. are insured and damage to the Jam- ing on all along the east coast Europe is also having its winter ican economy will be minimal. The blaze, which from Maine to F1rida as one digit weather problems with thich snow did not affect The quick response by COMNAVBASE temperatures the tourist trade and did stretched as far south blanketting most of Europe. not result Guantanamo, has earned kudos for as North in loss of life or injury to U.S. Carolina. Old Forge, New A big freeze killed eight people the United States Government and citizens, was contained York, in the Adirondacks, was the in Greece and another four died in in the the United States Navy from the. early morning of January nations cold spot with a reading automobile accidents on icy roads 12th fol- Prime Minister, Press and general f 43 below zero. across the continent. lowing assistance from the United public. Local fire department responds with light water by Navy Journalist Dan Dowd "Some firemen cut down nearby The Red Cross and the Salvation In all, 16 fire trucks and 8,180 When Assistant Fire Chief George trees, made tripods and lashed their Army were there, providing food, gallons of foam were used on the Gonzalez from the Naval Base ire hoses to the structures so they water, coffee and minor first aid fire. could take a. break from the long where needed. Department and ABH2 Charles Johnston Suction lines were thrown into hours of standing with hose in hand," The nearby Shell from the NAS Crash Crew arrived at fuel storage the bay and a relay was set up be- Assistant Fire Chief Gonzalez said. facility was sprayed with water Montego Bay, Jamaica, it was 5:00 in tween the bay, the fire trucks and Late Saturday the afternoon on Saturday, January night, two charter- during the ordeal, to keep it from the blaze. ed flights, contracted by ESSO, becoming engulfed 10th and the fire at the ESSO fuel by the fuel fire The truck pumps ran continuously arrived from Niami carrying 2,820 storage facility was eleven hours right next to it. and heated up from the use. gallons of protein foam. old. One truck, donated from the "The Jamaican Defense Force great- There was such a large amount of near- foam by airport, was in use so long that Three of the five storage tanks ly assisted the fire fighters by being mixed with water that a it over heated and exploded. were ablaze. The fourth started. front end loader was used to raise transporting the incoming foam and the foam Assistant Fire Chief Gonzalez shortly thereafter , burning un two barrelsup to the top of the equipment to the scene put it this way . "I noticed that thirds of its contents while the of the blaze, fire trucks, where the foam was Fire Chief Gonzalez pointed out. poured into the two small pieces of burning magne- fifth tank was saved entirely. fire trucks . the "The Jamaican Fire Department put pumps never even broke stride, the sium dropped to the ground beneath "Eight million gallons of fuel that fire out," he said, "and it was hoses lust kent right on spraying the massive fire truck that was was delivered the previous day to a total co-operative effort by many while the fire trucks were re-fill- loaned-by the airport, so I started the fuel farm," Assistant Fire Chief people," he added. ed. walking. over to the truck to tell Gonzalez said in a recent interview. the operator that something was definitly wrong." The fire was difficult to fight "I was about 25 feet away when a because there was a dike built ball of flame burst around the fire * round the five banks,forming a box. truck." "At that point the fire fighters To cross the dike would mean get- who were on top of the truck load- ting very close to the massive blaze ing foam, dove off toward safety . and risking the possibility of fuel it way then that the whole truck spilling into the dike and complete- just blew up. Its a miracle that ly encircling the firefighters and- nobody was killed." .4 equipment . a very dangerous pros- "There were minor injuries to pect. the five men involved, but all will recover fully." This fact, coupled with the exist- ing terrain, made it possible to "Fire fighters turned their hoses fight the firefrom only one side. away fgom the fuel fire to fight the blaze that engulfed During the forty-nine and a half the fire truck, in minutes hour conflagration all but two Par- . in seconds, the chassis and cab of that giant truck ishes on the island responded to were the fire. reduced to flaming metal." Ingenuity was in full force during "I' e never seen anything like the fire fighting effort. it before, in my twenty-two years An unidentified man volunteered What we frequently take for granted tonnage (53,000 tons), is ordinarily of fire fighting," the Assistant his crop-dusting airplane and his is sometimes a work of art. As an a task requiring two tugs, Navy Fire Chief said, shaking his head. piloting skills to try an aerial example, the SS POINT MARGO, shown Harbor Pilot Bryant docked POINT The next day 9,240 gallons of attack on the blaze, using "purple- at the fuel pier, was docked last MARGO using the ship's starboard foam arrived from Miami, the fire K-powder." Sunday morning in a demonstration anchor and minimal assistance had already been extinguished by The pilot made two sweeping nass- of the declining art of expert from one tug. Harbor Pilot Bryant then, so the foam will be kept on es at the blaze, but the fire raged seamanship. Although docking a is a member of the Port Services hand near the fuel farm as a pro- undaunted . it was just too big. vessel of such size (650 feet) and Department.