PM Officially Opens Fire Brigade HQ In Mobay

Prime Minister the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, on Friday (May 13) officially opened the $580 million Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) Area 4 Headquarters in Montego Bay, situated at #1 Barnett Street in the city.

The 34,073 square foot state-of-the-art four-storey structure, is crucial to the improvement and expansion of the JFB’s service delivery across the parishes of St. James, Westmoreland, Trelawny, Hanover and St. Elizabeth.

The super structure boasts five bays for firetrucks, emergency vehicle bays, dormitories for 140 firefighters, office space, kitchen, pantry, conference centre, library, officer lounge, underground water tank, a gymnasium and more.

The facility’s construction, which commenced in June 2019, was in partnership with the World Bank through a loan provided under the Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Programme managed by Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF).

In his address, Mr. Holness stated that the construction and opening of the Area 4 Headquarters marks another important milestone in the life of the JFB and another important accomplishment in Jamaica’s history.

“This new building will transport our fire brigade into the 21st century with features and amenities that are the first of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean, and our fire brigade will now be able to advance its firefighting services in all areas including training,” Mr. Holness outlined.

He added that the JFB has been playing a crucial role in the development of the country’s disaster prevention, management and response efforts. The men and women of the Brigade have laboured under less than adequate conditions throughout the years, he said, putting service above self.

“It gives me great pleasure to officially open the Area 4 Regional Headquarters for the Jamaica Fire Brigade. May this serve you well and in turn may you serve the public of Jamaica well,” Mr. Holness said.

Commissioner of the Jamaica Fire Brigade Stewart Beckford, said that the new Area 4 headquarters comes at a time when the JFB is celebrating 80 years of “formal firefighting service in the St. James division.”

He noted that staff who are stationed in the parish have made tremendous sacrifice, working in less-than-ideal conditions, whilst continuing to carry out professional services and emergency operations.

“The opening of this facility will no doubt lift the morale of our firefighters as they will be working in an environment that will facilitate and improve service delivery for the people,” Mr. Beckford said.

“In keeping with our vision, we will be offering additional value-added services from this facility. These will include fire investigation, [hazardous materials] HAZMAT as well as emergency medical services. We will also no doubt improve those services which we already provide,” he added.