The Guyana Fire Service has recorded an 11 per cent year-on-year rise in emergency callouts, with the number of incidents this year passing the 1,000 mark. The bulk of the increase has come from grass and refuse fires, according to the Fire Chief, who described the current season as one of the most demanding in recent memory for crews stretched across the country.

Officials say the figures reflect a pattern that has become increasingly familiar during periods of prolonged dryness, but the scale of this year's increase has still prompted concern within the service. The milestone of over 1,000 responses arrives earlier in the year than in previous seasons, a detail the Fire Chief pointed to as evidence of the unusual severity of current conditions.

The underlying cause, according to fire officials, is the extended dry spell associated with the El Niño weather pattern now affecting the region. Reduced rainfall has left vegetation and waste material unusually combustible, so that even minor sources of ignition, discarded cigarettes, sparks from machinery or deliberate burning, are producing fires that spread with far greater speed than usual. Grass fires in particular have proliferated in open and undeveloped land, while refuse fires have multiplied in both urban and rural districts as dry conditions extend the window during which such blazes can take hold and spread.

The drought has also created a logistical strain for firefighters themselves, chiefly around water access. With natural water levels lower than normal, officials have appealed directly to citizens and communities to help preserve what supplies remain available for emergency use. The appeal centres on keeping canals, drainage channels and private reservoirs clear and accessible, so that crews responding to a blaze are not delayed by blocked or depleted water sources. Community cooperation on this front, officials say, could prove decisive in containing fires before they spread beyond control.

A further concern raised by the Fire Service involves land-clearing practices in agricultural and rural districts. Farmers, including those in indigenous communities, have long used controlled burning to clear plots ahead of planting, a practice with deep roots in traditional land management. Officials were careful to note that the technique itself is not the issue; rather, it is the timing. Conditions that would ordinarily allow such burns to be managed safely no longer apply, and officials say the risk of a controlled burn escaping its boundaries has risen sharply as a result.

In response, the Fire Service has issued a series of directives aimed at reducing further incidents. Anyone lighting a fire, whether for land clearing, waste disposal or any other purpose, has been warned against leaving it unattended at any point. Officials stressed that a fire left unsupervised, even briefly, can shift beyond control within minutes under the current dry conditions.

Equally central to the guidance is the call for early reporting. The Fire Service has urged members of the public to contact emergency services the moment a fire breaks free of its intended boundary, rather than attempting to manage the situation independently. Officials were explicit on this point, noting that the interval between a fire escaping control and the arrival of a report to emergency services is often the single factor that determines whether a blaze remains contained or develops into a wider emergency.

The Fire Service said it would continue its public education campaigns through the remainder of the dry season, with officials planning further outreach in high-risk rural districts. The measures are intended to complement operational response with prevention, as the department works to limit the toll of a season already on track to exceed previous years' totals.

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