KINGSTON, Jamaica — Firefighter Sergeant Leo Bennett is pointing to a lack of support within the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) and personal stressors as the reasons which led 35-year-old Shadane Gentles to climb atop the Half-way-tree Transport Centre threatening to commit suicide on Monday.
READ: Suicidal ex-firefighter rescued by former colleagues
Sergeant Bennett was among the firefighters who subsequently convinced Gentles to deviate from his plans and come down from the structure.
“As you see, me really just hug him, tell him everything ago alright. I didn’t tell him say to come down, really, you know, just empathy,” Bennett told Observer Online following the incident.
Sergeant Leo Bennett hugs Shadane Gentles who had climbed on top of the Half-way-tree Transport Centre on Monday, January 6, 2025. (Photo: @rt_media360 /Ramon Thompson)
Bennett, who, almost two years ago, had climbed the transport centre in protest of the ill-treatment of his colleagues by the JFB, highlighted a lack of support from the brigade as one of the reasons for Gentles’ reaction.
READ: Militant firefighter lists demands amid protest atop HWT Transport Centre
“They (the JFB) lost the human touch… It’s like they’re dealing with some machinery, even the machinery, they take better care of,” Sergeant Bennett accused.
“A number of firefighters are suffering and sometimes I think the support system is very, very lacking,” he added.
Bennett further informed that Gentles recently resigned from the JFB due to stress from work and his personal life. He said he had a conversation with Gentles about a month ago, prior to his resignation, after learning he was acting in a manner outside of his character.
“It’s a combination, because as you would have known, firefighters work every day of our lives, so there’s no separation between work and family and other scope of life,” Bennett explained.
“He was undergoing severe stress and I spoke to him about a month ago… because I heard persons say that they saw him in a manner that was not him. Fast forward to today, I got a call that he was at the transport centre, as Jamaica would have seen, and he had wires or rope which persons would have feared that he may take his life. I just hugged him, really,” he stated.
Shadane Gentles uses ladder to come off the Half-way-tree Transport Centre following intervention from former colleagues on Monday, January 6, 2025. (Photo: @rt_media360 /Ramon Thompson)
Bennett said Gentles was a good firefighter, who is a Christian, is disciplined and has high moral standards.
Following Monday’s incident Gentles was transported by mental health personnel from the Half Way Tree Police Station to the Kingston Public Hospital for assessment.
(Video: @rt_media360 /Ramon Thompson))