Anti Suppressants

One of the most startling pieces of news in the weekend newspapers was the Bermuda Sun's revelation that the switching room in which Thursday's fire started had no fire suppressant system.

"I am not sure, based on this particular incident, the effect it would have had," said BELCO president and CEO Gary Madeiros in reply. Perhaps a suppression system would not have prevented the fire. But might it have been enough to stop the second board being compromised by heat and smoke?

Many companies have their operating procedures and disaster recovery plans scrutinised by an auditor on an annual basis. Did BELCO's auditors warn them about the lack of fire suppressant systems in the switching room? If so, why did BELCO not put such a system in place? Was it because of the cost? How much would this be? What other parts of BELCO's facilities are also unprotected?

These are just some of the questions that any inquiry into the blackout will need to answer.

Update: I asked BELCO if this was something they had been warned about and received the following response from Corporate Communications Officer Susan McGrath-Smith:

"As you may have heard on last night's news and will read in today's Royal Gazette, an independent investigation is about to commence, and government is bringing in an investigator under the auspices of Health & Safety, as is their mandate. Any comment would be inappropriate until the investigators complete their work.

Findings will be made public and, in the meantime, we will keep the public informed of progress, as we work to restore the system."

Comments

[lickinalong on 18.07.05 at 18:45]

Good point Limey.

Historically Belco has had a substandard plant. You should have seen it 20 years ago, it was a disgusting mess. My son wrote a report on the Pembroke Canal when he was at school and confronted Belco with evidence of oil in the Canal. Evidently Belco was drilling holes in the ground and disposing of crankcase oil in the holes. This went on for many years until the oil started to reappear in the Canal. They are supposed to have equipment to remove this oil from the Canal but I don't know if it is still operational.

As recently as last year they had insufficient generating capacity to cover emergencies. Today the plant is cleaner and the generating capacity provides some fallback but other areas like the switching room did not get the attention that they deserved. Part of the problem may be that Belco was reluctant to approach the Government for a rate increase.

[Pitts Bay on 18.07.05 at 19:16]

Why would they need to increase rates, maybe they should reduce the annual dividend payment for a couple of years.

Being on the board of a number of companies, some listed, others not, if you have a capital project you account for it. BELCO is a profitable company and these sorts of matters should be dealt with in their current operating budget. It is an investment in the future profitability of the company and that is a sustainable argument to any shareholder who may complain about a possible temporary reduction in dividends

[jake on 18.07.05 at 20:21]

Belco can be better managed.

[Terry on 18.07.05 at 20:25]

This reminds me of Riplings, 'Believe it or not'.
I sent an e.mail to a retired Civil Servant of Forty years yesterday. He was telling me about the power outage there.

As God is my witness, I told him that they (Belco) should have had in place a supresion system. It may have helped, it may not have. If it was of the proportion I am and was thinking of, it would have worked.

Mr. Wells must have spoken to my friend. I won't bring his name into this but I know someone there believes me.

A great day to all.

[bermudanews on 18.07.05 at 22:36]

It does not surprise me at all, the building was due for demolition this year, they were cutting costs. Recently there was a fire when a UPS battery exploded in the Gov computer room. It happened at 3pm so there were people there. It caused considerable damage and had it happened at night they would have lost the whole computer room and guess what? the fire system had been disabled by the staff!

[bermudanews on 18.07.05 at 22:51]

This is interesting, from QuoVadis website, did the police get things right for once? "Mission critical systems, ranging from insurance and accounting applications to the Bermuda Police website, hosted in SecureCentre operated as normal throughout the emergency." I hear that all Police systems worked well for a change whereas the gov site was down for days.

[Lost in Flatts on 19.07.05 at 08:45]

All emergency communications systems worked fine throughout the whole blackout. Not sure about things like computer network etc...though.

It's good to see the gvnt have already arranged the independent report, hopefully it will highlight what can be done to improve the current systems. Hopefully it won't be used to finger scapegoats while covering the real problems.

[Sue on 19.07.05 at 13:57]

I have to say how impressed I was with everyone I cam in contact with on Thursday and Friday. As a frequent visitor to the island I am assustomed to the gracious and friendly nature of Bermudians...under normal circumstances. Obviously this wasn't normal, but there was no change. Everyone I came in contact with was making the most of an inconvenient time. It was a joy to be around!

I want to give a huge pat on the back to all of the firemen and women who braved those life threatening circumstances, and a hearty thank goodness no one was hurt!

Belco will have to be accountable in the long run, but to the countless Bermudians I encountered those 2 days in particular I just want to say......you ARE the magic of Bermuda.....and the reason for my frequent visits.

Sue

[Oscar on 21.07.05 at 15:37]

Sue,

Thanks for your kind comments.