The Cayman Islands Fire Service (CIFS) have welcomed their new interim Chief Fire Officer, who joined the team on Monday 9^th September.

            During his first week, Mr. Paul Walker QFSM met with fire officers at all five fire stations across the three islands to kick off his familiarisation with the Fire Service and the community.

Mr. Walker accepted his new position on an interim 12-month basis, whilst the 3 recently appointed Deputy Chief Fire Officers continue with their individualised plans for professional development.    

Commenting on Mr. Walker’s appointment, Chief Officer for the Ministry of Financial Services and Home Affairs, Dr. Dax Basdeo, said: “we are very pleased to have someone with Mr. Walker’s depth and breadth of experience join the Fire team. A significant amount of investment has already been made in succession planning within the Fire Service and we hope Paul’s appointment will give our senior officers the time and mentoring they require to prepare them for the next stage of their careers.”

In a welcome address, which was distributed to all fire officers, Mr. Walker identified the central goal for his 12-month tenure. “My main focus during my time here is to help progress the careers of all fire officers,” he explained.

            “I want to impart my 30 years’ of fire and rescue experience to help grow and develop our officers to enable them to take on more senior positions with confidence,” he continued.

            Prior to joining CIFS, Mr. Walker served as the Chief Fire Officer for the Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service in the United Kingdom for five years, after successfully completing five years in the role of Deputy Chief Fire Officer within the same service.

            During his time in Cornwall, Mr. Walker also headed a number of emergency services networks including Director of Resilient Cornwall and as Chair of the Executive Board for the statutory multi-agency Safer Cornwall Partnership.  

            Deputy Chief Fire Officers, Brevon Elliott, Roy Charlton and Tina Ebanks, who were all promoted to the role in February this year, were on hand to support Paul during his first week with CIFS.

            In a joint statement, the Deputies said: “We welcome Chief Walker to the Fire Service and look forward to learning from his many years of experience and working together to achieve our goal of creating a world class fire service. His arrival allows us to direct our full attention to a number of important projects already underway, including our own professional development.”

            Mr. Walker’s orientation to the CIFS will also include meetings with critical private and public sector stakeholders and community partners.