Southside fire station officially opens

It may not be as imposing as the massive structure near Freetown Road, but the new fire station on Dolphin Street will go a long way toward making the city safer. News 5’s Jacqueline Woods was on hand for today’s official opening.

Jacqueline Woods, Reporting

The construction of the new fire station had to be a labour of love; after all it was built by the fire-fighters themselves. The station is the second for Belize City and will primarily serve the southside.

Henry Baizar, Fire Chief

“I think it is more than necessary. I think it is, from where we are over the north side of Belize City, it takes us considerable time to get across there, especially in the peak hours, around 11:30, early in the morning, late in the afternoon, after children come out of class. It will take us ten to fifteen minutes to get across over this side if there is a serious fire around those hours, so this fire station will prove very, very good for us. It will cut down our response time considerably.”

Fire chief Henry Baizar says because the southside still has many old wooden structures in congested neighbourhoods, the station had to be located where the fire fighters respond quickly to any situation.

Henry Baizar

“And this is sort of central on the southside. There are needs for other stations on the southside that we have identified another area so far. We have identified another area in the Lake Independence area, and hopefully in the coming budget we might be able to put up another station on that side.”

One first response truck will be stationed at the building along with a four-member crew. Jacqueline Woods for News 5.

The new fire station was built at a cost of eighty thousand dollars. The money was provided by the Government of Belize.