Carib Cement donates decontamination unit to Rollington Town Fire Station
Fire stations need an area where officers can decontaminate safely when they return from fighting a blaze. Now, due to the intervention of the employees of the Caribbean Cement Company Ltd, what has been said to be the only functioning decontamination unit has been built at the Rollington Town Fire Station in Kingston.
On Thursday, March 12, Yago Castro, General Manager of Caribbean Cement Ltd on behalf of his team, officially handed over the unit to Superintendent Julian Davis-Buckle of the Kingston and St. Andrew Division.
The unit, an addition to the existing building and which houses wash areas, showers and a large specialist industrial washing machine, will allow the officers to exit from their trucks directly to this space.
“This is a result of the high level of social awareness of our team members and their commitment to their community. We have worked closely with and have improved the situation of police stations, churches, schools and Communities in the East Kingston, Harbour View and Bull Bay areas and the team identified in 2019 decided to improve their local community fire station. This is also the result of the strong safety mindset among our employees and we are happy to have been able to assist the personnel at Rollington Town Fire station to work more safely,” Mr Castro said.
Employees of Carib Cement suggested several projects for its Labour Day 2019 activity, on consultation with the fire station the need for a decontamination unit was identified, but the project was too big an undertaking for Labour Day. Instead, more than 40 employees painted the front of the building, the fence and cleared the overgrowth at the front of the station. This was followed by a further intervention by the company to construct the unit at a cost of more than three million dollars.
“We really appreciate this gift from the Caribbean Cement Company because it is the only unit in the country. Our officers sometimes have to leave fires where there are various toxins, then go on to rescue persons from cars without an opportunity to decontaminate. This unit will improve the health and safety of our team and I will be putting protocols in place to ensure its most effective operation,” Superintendent Buckle said.
The Rollington Town Fire Station, which hosts approximately 40 officers across several shifts is based on Giltress Street in East Kingston and serves 17 communities. Personnel and trucks are also sometimes called on to assist with fires outside of its designated region.
