The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) says it helped contain fires and prevent reignition during a six-day fire management initiative in South Rupununi aimed at protecting communities and wildlife habitats.
The exercise, held from October 12 to 17, brought together representatives of Sawariwau, Katoonarib and Shulinab, the University of Guyana’s Amerindian Research Unit and the South Rupununi Conservation Society (SRCS).
According to a GFS release, firefighters provided technical and operational assistance, including accessing water from open sources for use in fire management activities.
Station Officer Clayton Pantlitz said ranks assisted where fires threatened to spread beyond their intended boundaries and responded when previously extinguished flames showed signs of reigniting.
The service said firebreaks were an important part of efforts to protect and restore habitats for the Rio Branco Antbird and Hoary-throated Spinetail, two threatened bird species found in the Rupununi.
The latest exercise also follows earlier calls for community-based approaches to managing fires in the Rupununi.
During a March 2024 stakeholder meeting convened by the Protected Areas Commission, SRCS Programme Coordinator Dr Kayla de Freitas recommended community fire management plans and brigades, mapping vulnerable areas, sustained education and closer collaboration among agencies and villages.
According to a report published by DPI, de Freitas stressed the importance of understanding fire within the Rupununi’s environmental and cultural context, noting that suppressing or criminalising its use elsewhere had worsened wildfire problems.
Later that month, the Civil Defence Commission reported a coordinated response to widespread fires during a prolonged dry spell. Sawariwau and Katoonarib were among the affected communities, while firefighters and Kumu residents worked to contain a blaze approaching the workers’ site at the Kumu hydropower installation.
The GFS said the October initiative coincided with Fire Prevention Month and formed part of its work to strengthen fire safety and preparedness.
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