New Fire Service Headquarters Planned for Chetumal Boulevard

After years of setbacks, stalled plans, and logistical challenges, the Government is moving closer to delivering a long-overdue National Fire Service Headquarters for Belize City. Minister with responsibility for the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO), Henry Charles Usher, provided a long-awaited update, confirming that a new site has finally been identified on Chetumal Boulevard.  The announcement comes after more than a decade of instability surrounding the Fire Service’s main headquarters. In 2014, the original Fire Station and Administrative Headquarters in the Belchina/Bel Layout area was controversially sold to Atlantic Bank, leaving firefighters displaced from a purpose-built, fully functional facility.  The service was then temporarily housed at the Marion Jones Sporting Complex, a location widely criticized as inadequate and unsafe for fire-service operations. Firefighters have repeatedly highlighted the challenges: poor access to main arteries, limited maneuvering space for trucks, and a structure never designed to host emergency responders. The temporary fix became a decade-long problem.  Minister Usher acknowledged the frustration surrounding the project but said the government is finally turning the page.  He assured the public that planning and design are already underway, with the next phase focusing on financing and construction timelines.

Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Public Service: “The big project will be the building of the new fire headquarters. Unfortunately, the UDP administration sold the fire headquarters without a plan to build a new one. We still don’t know where the money went to in the sale of that building but we have located a property where we’re going to build the new fire headquarters and it will be comprehensive headquarters that will not only be a fire station, but will also serve as a training ground, will also serve as a mechanic ground for the stations. So the process now is to find the funding and we’re working along with our partners to see what is the best fit to be able to find the funding to do the plans etc to get that done.”

Troy Gabb, Host, The Morning Show: By what area has been identified? 
Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Public Service: “It’s the same area where the Eleanor Hall building is. Yes we have a location over there and it’s big enough so that we can do everything that we want to do in that particular location. Of course, we will also have a station in the north side of Belize City that will serve as a south side station. And the stations there serve all the way up to Mile 8 on the western highway and all the way up to, I think right before the Vista del Mar in the, on the northern highway, or on the Philip Goldson highway. And then we have a Ladyville substation and so on. So I think that it’s important that we have these two stations properly done. We have stations right now but we also need a fire department, National Fire Service headquarters, and that’s what we want to do.”

Usher confirmed that after extensive assessments, the Fire Service and NEMO have secured a new location along Chetumal Boulevard, an area with better access, room for expansion, and the potential to host fully modernized headquarters. The site will serve as the command center for the National Fire Service and will be equipped to handle the growing needs of Belize City’s population.