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Stewart Beckford, Commissioner of the Jamaica Fire Brigade and Collington Powell, Principal of Innswood High School
By Nakinskie Robinson
Fuelled by strong winds and dry conditions, a ferocious bush fire erupted in a section of Innswood in St. Catherine on Thursday.
Commissioner of Jamaica Fire Brigade, Stewart Beckford, says firefighters were alerted to the blaze around 10:35 a.m.
The fire affected the visibility of roads and operations of the wider community.
Two units, one from the Old Harbour fire station and another from Spanish Town, responded to the blaze.
"The team fought that blaze for well over four hours and as we speak, they are still on location. We are hoping to extinguish this fire before nightfall," said the commissioner.
He noted that the blaze is about 90 per cent contained.
Commissioner Beckford said there has since been reports of a mild smoke nuisance in the Jacaranda housing scheme.
It's understood that in the initial stage, the smoke also forced some motorists to use their headlights to move along the roadway or divert from the area.
Meanwhile, Principal of Innswood High School, Collington Powell, told Radio Jamaica News earlier on Thursday that thick smoke blanketed the institution, forcing classes to an abrupt end.
"The entire school population became frantic. Students were displaying signs of respiratory issues and adults alike, so we had to really make a decision pretty quickly and we decided to dismiss school at about 12:30 thereabout."
He said school should resume on Friday if the blaze is extinguished by Thursday night.
A gas station employee was also observed earlier attempting to prevent the blaze from spreading to the nearby gas station.
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