241 fire officers promoted

Speaking at the promotion ceremony, Chief Fire Officer Roosevelt Bruce said promotions were made in every rank in the Fire Service except for the rank of Chief Fire Officer.

“This large promotion is really historic because in my research I have not found at any time we have had in excess of 235 persons being promoted at the same ceremony,” Bruce said.

“So it is good that we have so many people being promoted but I also see it as a negative. If we were doing what we were supposed to be doing all along we would not have reached to this point where so many people are to be promoted,” he said. Bruce said things are being put into place to prevent another huge promotion ceremony from taking place.

He explained that they already have a chairman of the assessment committee to assess fire-fighters to the position of Sub Officers and to assess officers for the position of Sub Station Officers.

“We will have a list so when the vacancies arise, it can be filled immediately.

It will no longer be a long wait. Some of you have acted in the rank of Sub Officer for a considerate length of time, some of you have not been paid. We have already started the approvals for persons acting in the rank of Sub Officers and Sub Station Officers.

These approvals will come and you will be paid for the length of time you were acting,” Bruce said. He urged the promoted officers to perform the jobs that they all have been promoted to, and be the best fire officers they could be.

Bruce noted that for the first time in a promotion ceremony, they had among them a brother and sister, and husband and wife being promoted at the same time.

Siblings David Bobb and Suzanne Bobb- O’Brien, joined the service in 1996 and 2000 respectively and have been waiting more than 15 years to be promoted.

Bobb-O’Brien said, “I was acting since 2008 and I have been waiting ever since to be promoted.

I joined the service in 2000 and have been waiting. Ever since we have been younger, we have always followed in each other’s footsteps and we still have the passion.” Meanwhile, Rex Thomas and his wife Natalie Jervis-Thomas gave thanks to God for their promotions.

“We met in the service about 17 years ago and everything just unfolded.

I have done the promotion exam in 2009 and my wife did hers in 2005 and we have been waiting ever since.

It means a lot to us to know that things are happening in the Fire Service and we are grateful for this opportunity to move forward and to move up.

“We have been promoted to the rank of Fire Sub Station Officers,” Thomas said.