By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

MINISTER of National Security Dr Bernard Nottage commissioned five new fire trucks yesterday, bought by the government at a cost of about $1.3 million.

Dr Nottage said the new vehicles allow the Fire Branch to be more efficient in fighting fires.

Two of the trucks have been sent to Grand Bahama and three remain in the capital.

Dr Nottage said they will be strategically placed around the island to improve response time.

“For the first time in the history of the Bahamas, we have been able to increase our inventory so impressively. They are costing us $1.278 million and with that cost we expect them to be on the road for the next 20 years,” he said.

“We do not want to have to spend this much money in the future. We will be placing a fire truck in each of the major communities, one in Cable Beach, one South Beach, one Elizabeth Estates and the other one will remain in headquarters. That way we will be able to reach most locations in New Providence in a relatively short period of time. It will add a new dimension to our ability to fight fires.”

Fire Chief Walter Evans said the new trucks will make it possible for firefighters to arrive at scenes in less than 10 minutes.

He said: “It is critically important for us to have appliances to respond to emergencies. There are outlined stations where we will place the vehicles to provide emergency service to customers and it provides us with an opportunity to respond in a timely fashion.

“In every fire incident time matters, every second counts and so it is for that reason we always encourage members of the public when there is an emergency to contact us immediately, so we can be in a position not only to save property, but more importantly, save lives.

“What we have done is, right now with these units we should be in a position, under normal circumstances, meaning no bad weather conditions like rain, or traffic, we can look at a response time of between 7 to 10 minutes.”

One of the new features of these trucks is their ability to spray water through a nozzle in the bumper, controlled from within the cab.

There are now eight fire trucks on New Providence.