New fire station for twin Cayo towns

The twin towns of San Ignacio and Santa Elena will soon boast a new fire station. The facility will cost seventy-five thousand dollars and will be built by the firemen themselves. Today Minister of Home Affairs Dickie Bradley was on hand for the groundbreaking.

Dickie Bradley, Minister of Home Affairs

“What is happening in fact is an upgrade overall, in the structure, equipment and training of the National Fire Service. In fact in Belize City you will know that a recent fire in one of the most congested areas of the southside of Belize City, everybody was impressed with the behaviour of the National Fire Service. So what is happening out there… we can’t just concentrate purely on the southside of Belize City, we have to look at a national fire service. And at the request of the two area representatives here in the San Ignacio/Santa Elena area, we have decided to put a proper fire station, which can adequately house the new trucks that we are providing for both the professional firefighters and the volunteer elements that we will be emphasising and expanding. So in effect what is happening here is groundbreaking ceremonies to ensure that Santa Elena is brought up into the twenty-first century in terms of its fighting capabilities.”

Henry Baizar, Fire Chief

“We will build a proper fire station. The fire station will house two vehicles. It will have an office, sleeping accommodations, toilets and showers on the ground flood. The upper floor, will be used a classroom and recreational for the firefighters. We will also build a three bedroom resident quarter for the person in charge of the station.”

Baizar also said that the National Fire Service is acquiring a first ever ladder truck with equipment costing over a million dollars. The new truck is expected to arrive in the country by early March and will service Belize City.