KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) is set to launch a new emergency communication centre, designed to improve response times islandwide through the implementation of an automatic station alerting system.

Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Desmond McKenzie, made the announcement during his 2026/27 Sectoral Debate presentation in the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

He indicated that 24 firefighters were specially trained in February as emergency telecommunications operators to staff the centre, which will be based at the Waterford Fire Station in St Catherine.

“The key feature of this is [that] the system will alert and transmit emergency notification instantly. If you make a call within 64 seconds, that information will be transmitted instantly to the relevant fire stations, and the firefighters will be [dispatched] in 60 seconds,” McKenzie explained.

This combined total response time of two minutes and four seconds will align the JFB with international best practices.

The local government minister noted that the groundbreaking project is being rolled out in two phases.

The first phase covers fire stations across Kingston and St Catherine, that serve the island’s most densely populated communities and, therefore, generate the highest volume of emergency calls.

Phase two will begin in the next financial year and will extend to all remaining fire stations islandwide.

The ministry has announced that the York Park Fire Station in Kingston will serve as the base for the emergency communication centre in phase two of the project.

—    JIS