Off-duty fireman dies in accident. Update 2019-07-27

A member of the Saba branch of the Caribbean Netherlands Fire Department BKCN died as a result of a tragic accident in Saba on Thursday.

The incident occurred while fireman Reid Barnes Jr. was not on duty. Barnes reportedly had bought a piece of heavy equipment from St. Eustatius and was driving it down the steep road in St. John’s where it overturned and caused his death.

The BKCN Fire Department said no information about the incident would be immediately provided. “As soon as there is more information we can release, I will send this to the press,” communication manager Lucia Beck said early Thursday evening.

BKCN said in a brief statement that the department’s thoughts were with the deceased firefighter’s family, friends and colleagues.

Three members of BKCN’s branch in St. Eustatius travelled to Saba by helicopter around 8:45pm Thursday to lend support to their colleagues in Saba in case an emergency should occur. The Statia firefighters will be on hand to ensure firefighting capabilities are not compromised due to the state of mind of Saba’s firefighters, who have suddenly lost one of their colleagues.

The Daily Herald.

Hereby additional official information from KPCN and BKCN about the incident that took place yesterday on Saba:

On Thursday 26 July in the afternoon hours a colleague from the Fire Department Caribbean Netherlands passed away in an accident with an agricultural vehicle. After the preliminary investigation, the remains were released to the family.  Name of the victim is Reid Barnes born on Saba, November 25, 1979. The traffic department of the police department will continue the investigation in this case.

KPCN & BKCN