A Fire Truck Donation for the National Fire Service
The fleet of vehicles at the National Fire Service has increased following the handing over of a fire truck by the Belize City Council and the Republic of China (Taiwan). The department has been battling a number of structural fires and recently, due to the dry weather, brushfires have been a serious concern. And so, the donation of a fire truck is timely. News Five’s Duane Moody reports.
Duane Moody, Reporting
It is an ongoing struggle for firefighters who respond to structural and brushfires. As such, there is always a need for additional resources to carry out the mandate of the department. Today, the National Fire Service received a fire truck to assist when those distress calls come in.
Colin Gillett
Colin Gillett, Fire Chief, National Fire Service
“Trucks were breaking in half; I know you remember those. And since then, this is the fourth truck from Taiwan; number four. It’s gotten so frequent that our friends at the port; we know that a truck is here at long time before we actually get it. So at some point, Miss Michelle sent me a text and said, “fire chief, there is a truck and the port and we are going to hand it over.” And I was like whenever you tell me to come, I’ll show up cause whenever someone is giving me a truck, I will be there. And so the partnership, the cooperation between Taiwan and the [National] Fire Service is extensive.”
The vehicle was gifted to the Belize City Council through its sister city relations with Kaohsiung.
Lily Li-Wen Hsu
Lily Li-Wen Hsu, Taiwanese Ambassador to Belize
“We cannot emphasize enough the importance of public safety and we have to make every effort to eliminate the risk to people’s life and property from hazardous events. Taiwan, like Belize, is prone to natural disasters and so we know the importance of emergency management and hazard mitigation. Therefore, it is truly an honor for our embassy to, on behalf of the Taiwan government, to hand over the fire truck to Belize City so that it could better safeguard its residents.”
Bernard Wagner
Bernard Wagner, Belize City Mayor
“This is a testament to the great relationship that Belize continues to have and the friendship with Taiwan. We share a sister city relationship out of Kaohsiung and so the embassy and the Government of Taiwan donated this fire truck to the city.”
Belize City Mayor Bernard Wagner says the council enjoys a great partnership with the National Fire Service. The donation is simply a helping hand.
Bernard Wagner
“As you know we are not mandated to really be responsible for fire. So we in turn redirected that gift to the National Fire Service. It’s a gift where the city benefits especially in terms of the added value that it will bring to the fire service here in Belize City. We know that we have been having many bushfires; we have been having those other types of fires in urban areas that we need to be able to respond quickly. Having this gifted to us and we in turn back to the fire service is a win-win situation.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
