Fire Service to award dedicated officers in annual ceremony
Fire-fighters normally take a lot of heat, both on the job and from the public, but tonight the National Fire Service is making headlines for honouring its most outstanding members. This afternoon Fire Chief Henry Baizar would not reveal the names of the recipients, but maintains that recognising a commitment to excellence in officers is long overdue.
Henry Baizar, Fire Chief
?For the medals that we will give tonight, we will give a medal of honour, medal of merit, medals for fire prevention, medals for fire-fighter of the year, and officer of year. And we are going to give individual citation and group citation for groups that go out and do something good. All these awards have a criteria you must meet.?
?For many years, they were not recognised in a proper, official way, so we made a policy whereby every year as of this year we will have an annual fire-fighters award.?
?It is a good career. It?s dangerous, it?s hazardous and everything else, but once you get into it, it?s very hard to get out of, because it gets into your system and it?s rewarding in a sense that every fire you go to, you learn something new. It?s different, it?s not boring … it?s exciting.
Belize City has the most fire fighters in the country, with ten to twelve full time officers on duty twenty-four hours a day. In district towns with a fire station, there are three full time fire-fighters and approximately ten volunteers who work on a daily basis. The award ceremony begins tonight at eight at the Biltmore Plaza.
