A short-term plan 25 years later | Old Harbour firefighter Omar Rhone speaks on receiving national honour

CLICK HERE AND Join our WhatsApp Channel for breaking news directly to your phone as it happens and for updates and the best pictures.

One such among this batch of honourees was Old Harbour’s own Omar Rhone, a firefighter with over 25 years of service to the brigade who received the award of meritorious service in recognition of what he has brought to the brigade in terms of talent, tenacity and training.

The Medal of Honour for meritorious service in Jamaica is awarded to members of the uniformed services who have performed distinguished service or displayed bravery or distinguished conduct. A meritorious service award is also given to individuals who have rendered loyal and commendable service beneficial to Jamaica. With a quarter of a century of service under his belt, Rhone continues to be one of the brigade’s biggest assets as he continues to work towards its advancement and improvement. This most recent award is now added fuel for him to work even harder.

A district officer at the St. Catherine Fire, Safety & Prevention and Investigation Unit (formerly the Fire Prevention Division in Spanish Town) which he joined in 2008, Rhone shared that in his youth, being a fire fighter was not even remotely on his radar as a career choice.

“I actually wanted to go to G.C. Foster College as I had a passion for sports. There was a sports club there and a firefighter who was a part of the club told a friend of mine about the fire brigade and my friend wanted to do the entry exam so I just went along with him for support and decided to do the test. In the end, I got in and my friend didn’t. I had planned to stay in the brigade for five years,” he recounted. “Well now it’s five times five years.”

A graduate of both Old Harbour Primary and Old Harbour High schools, the boy from Sharper Lane was always highly motivated to give his best at all times. Though being a firefighter is already a high pressure career, Rhone was also up for the challenge of higher education so he pursued an associate degree in computer application and business studies at the Portmore Community College and later followed that up with a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University College of the Caribbean (UCC). Add to this is his Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) training course that he did in Japan in 2017.

Rhone will be the first to share that he grew from humble beginnings as his mother was a housewife and a part time fishmonger and his father a carpenter. The second to last child from a large family, his parents always inculcated the value of hard work in him and his siblings.

“They reiterated that education was the key and ticket out of poverty. They would go to the length and breadth to find the funds for school. I couldn’t miss a day. Church was also a must,” he said, speaking exclusively with Old Harbour News.

The values instilled in him have served him well over the years and have led him to continuously advocate for the Jamaica Fire Brigade. Currently, he is actively working to promote the activities that fall under the National Fire & Life Safety Awareness Week that takes place near the end of October.

“The Fire and Life Safety Week was launched on October 23, 2024, at the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development under the theme: ‘Embracing Digital Innovation to Improve Fire & Safety’ and this means that we will showcase to the public, devices such as the smart smoke detector that you can use your phone to monitor so you can get an alert on your phone and see where or in which room a fire started. There is also the fire ball which is a smart fire extinguishing device that you can throw into a burning room and the components in the ball will extinguish the fire without an individual having to take the risk to enter the room itself,” Rhone explained.

He further added that every region or area will be hosting an expo; and Area 3 which comprises St. Catherine, Manchester and Clarendon has an exciting calendar of events for the week that is guaranteed to both engage and excite the public. Sunday, October 27 commences with a church service at the Swallowfield Chapel in Kingston while Monday will see the erection of booths at the LOJ Shopping Centre in Spanish Town where many fire and safety devices will be on display. Firefighters will also go out into nearby communities to spread more awareness and visit schools such as Ensom City Primary and have a fire warden training session at Innswood High School.

Tuesday, October 29 will see activities at Portmore Mall with many display booths on hand while fire drills and presentations are scheduled to take place at Waterford High School.

Wednesday they will head to Old Harbour Primary and Alexander Basic Schools while Thursday will be the big expo in Old Harbour at lot 34 East Street at the bus park across from the post office, starting 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. There will be a live outside broadcast and at least ten agencies will be on hand including the JCF, HEART/NTA, SDC, Educom, ODP, Ministry of Labour and Social Security, NIS  and Bell Safety. There will be free blood pressure and blood sugar checks; demonstrations on the proper way to use a fire extinguisher plus live drone demonstration as attendees will be shown how drones can assist in firefighting. There will also be fun activities such as citizens competing to see who can don the firefighting uniform the fastest.

Rhone is now an important figure behind the planning and execution of this annual event. But after a quarter of a century serving his country through the brigade, his dedication is testament of an individual who have placed country above himself, and has been deservedly rewarded on one of the most important days in the land of his birth.