Local Man Hurled Abuse At Volunteer Firefighters As They Battled Wardija Blaze
As volunteer firefighters from the St John’s Rescue Corps were battling a growing fire that broke out over the weekend in Wardija, one local man with fields in the area began hurling abuse at the officers.
“He began calling them all sorts of names, things like pulċinelli, because he wanted the firefighters to stop what they were doing and tend to the fields in his area,” one man who witnessed the scene told Lovin Malta. “He definitely scared off some people from applying to become firefighters…”
The Wardija operation involved a total of six vehicles and 18 St John Malta volunteer firefighters from its rescue service, alongside officers from the Civil Protection Unit.
Though some trees were lost in the blaze – including some old carob trees – the man’s verbal orders to the workers left many with a bad taste in their mouth.
The man, a well-known canvasser for a prominent minister, even threatened to make some calls if firefighters didn’t move to his fields, leading to concerns over whether the firefighters should call in police support for their protection.
St John's Rescue firefighters in Wardija
Lovin Malta spoke to Andrew Grech, St John’s Rescue Operations Commissioner, who said that the man apologised for his behaviour afterwards.
With a fire approaching one’s fields, it may be understandable that one panics, but resorting to threatening emergency volunteers may not be the best approach.
“A number of farmers were affected in this fire, among them was one across the valley, opposite from where we were operating initially. The fire was moving in various directions, and we were focused on the priority areas, but this man was getting upset that we weren’t tackling the fire on his side. His side wasn’t being threatened at the time, so we had to ignore the words we were hearing and continue working.”
“We understand the anger, everyone wants to protect their property.”
Grech noted the various challenges firefighters face when tackling a blaze – especially in unpaved lands covered in intertwining fields.
“We have limited resources, and the greatest limiting factor is the water supply, you empty a fire engine’s water supply in two minutes. Wardija was a laborious operation, going through narrow passageways, crossing areas where theres no crossways, and emptying the tank in two minutes just to return to fill up, and in the meantime the fire picks up…”
“While this isn’t the first time firefighters have come across panicked or aggressive people near a fire, the man’s calls eventually reached the CPD, who asked St John’s if there’s anything they can do in this case – and offered police support in case the situation gets physical or out of hand.”
“In the end, we did go to his side when we could, and he even apologised for how he acted… but unfortunately, these do affect our members, who are volunteers, and some of them were training their trainees at the time…”
“We tackled the fire according to priority, some trees were lost, but we were concentrating on what we could have done best.”
As no less than four wildfires breaking out in various localities over just the last few weeks, you can expect to see emergency workers called in throughout the summer. Trained and experienced, you can leave the logistics of battling the fires in their hands – so try and bite your tongue if you ever find yourself starting to shout offences at people volunteering to save Malta’s greenery.
If you would like to find out more about volunteering with the St John’s Rescue Corps and their stellar work, find out more by following this link.
Are you surprised at what went down in Wardija?
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