MANDEVILLE, Manchester — There is a renewed call for action to improve the working conditions of fire fighters in this south-central town.

Superintendent Emrick Needham of the Jamaica Fire Brigade on Thursday reiterated that the present station on Brigade Crescent is inadequate to house the number of people there.

Needham made the disclosure while addressing the monthly meeting of the Manchester Municipal Corporation.

He was responding to a question from Councillor Mario Mitchell (People’s National Party, Bellefield Division), who wanted an update on plans for a fire station to be constructed in Cross Keys and a new location for the Mandeville station.

“For the fire stations, it is a long topic as it relates to the removing of the fire station, the servicing of the fire station, and placing the fire system in different areas that were being identified,” said Needham while adding that the pace of implementation is slow.

“I think one of the areas that was identified was Cross Keys [and] to remove the [Mandeville] station, the proposed site would have been Brooks Park, so all of those are still on the books, but they are moving slowly,” said Needham.

He told councillors that the Mandeville fire station has outgrown its space, but he hopes that remedial work can be done to address the problems there.

“I am here and I am lobbying for some works to be done at the station where it now houses the men and women of the fire brigade, because the condition is not what it ought to be and we are now in a crammed space, because we have grown. We have more units and are operating with a little bit more members of staff in the same space.

“Recently I had to send off some letters and some site inspection will be done…by my building team to see what can be done to do some fix as we continue to reside there,” added Needham.

Over the years there have been several calls for the Mandeville fire station to be relocated and Needham told the meeting, “We continue to look and hope that a new building will be established that the men and women can be serving in a better environment”.

In the meantime Needham said significant work has been done to improve the number of working hydrants across Manchester but, “There is still work to be done. I can assure you we will be on it as long as there is resource and we will try to get all our hydrants up to an optimal state.”