Fire station at Bridgetown Port in operation

The Bridgetown Port has invested $3.7 million to establish its own fire station.

The station was officially opened on Wednesday and during a ceremony to mark the occasion, chairman of the state entity The Most Honourable Peter Odle said the erection of the facility illustrated the port’s commitment to approaching projects to benefit its operation and the community at large. 

He described the station as a state-of-the-art facility, noting that it was outfitted with photovoltaic panels, and had a large water tank and a generator. 

During his remarks, Home Affairs Minister Wilfred Abrahams said that while the principal responsibility of the station was to service the needs of the port, officers could also be asked to respond to emergencies in the catchment area.

“When we moved the fire station from Probyn Street to The Pine, a lot of people had concerns as to whether we’ve compromised response times for Bridgetown. I will say that two incidents recently that we had reason to respond to [were responded to in good time]. There was a fire in Bridgetown about two weeks ago and the fire service got there in record time in the traffic. Then we had a response yesterday as well, and from the call we got down here in good time as well,” he said. 

“I think the public of Barbados can be comfortable that in no way has the delivery of service by the fire service to the Bridgetown area been compromised. However, with this additional installation, while we are here to serve the port principally, it also services the wider Bridgetown area. We have double the capacity of being able to serve and respond to Bridgetown.”

Abrahams said there will be two fire tenders and an emergency response vehicle at the new station. 

One of the tenders was already on site on Wednesday.

In the future, the minister said, he wanted to see an emergency medical technician unit there as well.

The location of the new station was previously a mechanical workshop that was set up when the port opened 62 years ago. 

Similar to the operations at the airport, the Bridgetown Port fire station will respond to emergencies in a four to five mile radius, which includes districts such as Brandons, Deacons, Westbury, New Orleans, Weymouth, Belleville, Constitution Road, Fairchild Street, Jemmotts Lane, Henry’s Lane, the Garrison and Bay Street.

Operations at the station took effect from 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. 

A maximum of six people per shift will be at the facility.

Featured speaker at the event, Minister of Tourism Ian Gooding Edghill outlined a number of transformation projects the port was involved in. 

He said the expansion of the Shallow Draft should be ready by February 2024. (SZB)