Seven years after Hurricane Irma battered the Road Town fire station and left firefighters operating out of a damaged facility, the government has signed a contract for the third and final phase of post-storm repairs.
But even though the total spend will exceed $2.5 million, more funding will also be needed for remediating previous work carried out during earlier phases of the long-delayed project, according to senior fire officers.
The latest contract, for $1,035,369.75, was awarded to Trojan Design and Development Limited to redesign and reconstruct the tender bay where fire trucks park, government announced Aug. 30.
“This initiative is part of a broader strategy to support the Fire and Rescue Service in its mission to protect the community and ensure public safety,” Communications and Works Minister Kye Rymer said. “The government remains committed to investing in the necessary infrastructure and equipment to enable the service to carry out its duties efficiently.”
Melvin Jeffers, a station officer at the Road Town fire station, looks up through a hole in the ceiling at the underside of a corrugated metal roof that he said has been leaking for some time. (Photo: RUSHTON SKINNER)
Expanded footprint
The project will include demolishing and rebuilding the existing tender bay, including the fire officers’ lockers.
The new footprint will extend an additional 30 feet in the direction of the adjacent food-truck area, and the concrete floor will be raised a few feet to stave off the flooding that has increasingly plagued the neighbourhood in recent years, Station Officer Melvin Jeffers told the Beacon.
The new tender bay, which will be designed to fit nine vehicles, will be outfitted with security cameras, motorised garage doors, roof and ground-level drainage, and other “flood considerations,” according to government.
The contract also includes a new perimeter fence and training for using new equipment such as automatic gates and cameras.
Additionally, the works will include swapping the positions of the generator and fuel station to optimise the station’s layout for emergencies, the station manager said.
Earlier phases
In the 2017 hurricanes, the fire station was heavily damaged and lost its communication equipment, office supplies, uniforms, three vehicles and beds.
But like many post-Irma recovery projects, the full repairs have been delayed for years due in part to a lack of funding.
The first phase of reconstruction was completed in January 2020 with repairs to the roof and upstairs offices through an $800,000 contract signed in December 2018 between government and Quality Construction Limited.
Phase two began after a $332,206.73 contract with Metro Construction Limited was signed in March 2021. Communications and Works Minister Kye Rymer attended the handover ceremony just seven months later.
Now, with another million dollars allocated for the third phase, Mr. Rymer said he is happy to see the commencement of the final phase of the originally scheduled remediation works, which he said have cost about $1.6 million so far.
Government, he noted, also announced a tender on June 28 for a new fire truck.
“This is all so that they have the proper equipment so that they can go out there and do their work,” the minister said.
The three vehicle bays set to be demolished and rebuilt are underneath the porch area where fire officers exercise. The area will be extended approximately 30 additional feet toward the adjacent lot. (Photo: RUSHTON SKINNER)
More will be needed
After making do with a damaged facility for seven years, senior fire officers said the works are badly needed.
Currently, for instance, none of the rolling garage doors are operational in the tender bay, forcing fire officers to use emergency vehicles to block general access to the property, Mr. Jeffers said.
But even after phase three is complete, he added, more work will be needed, in part because new issues have developed while the station sat waiting the repairs.
The upstairs offices remain satisfactory after the first phase of the works, but the roof hasn’t fared as well, according to the station manager.
Straddling a bucket partially filled with water on Monday in the upstairs area, Mr. Jeffers looked up through a hole in the ceiling at the underside of a corrugated metal roof.
“See that hole there?” Mr. Jeffers asked. “I don’t know if you can see the light, but that’s where the rain comes through.”
Chief Fire Officer Zebalon McLean blamed the issue on previous repair works.
“It wasn’t done properly,” he said. “That’s why you’re seeing the leaks.”
Roof repairs were not included in specifications for the new contract listed in government’s Aug. 30 press release.
‘A bit difficult’
For his part, Mr. Rymer said he would have preferred to fully repair the fire station long ago.
“The system makes it a bit difficult for us to get certain things achieved,” the minister told the Beacon on Monday. “The processes, they take some time. But it makes no sense to complain at this stage. I’m happy that we were able to sign the contract. I’m ready to see the work started.”
He added that consistent maintenance is crucial.
“Work never really ends, because once there is something — if you don’t maintain things, we’ll need to always be addressing [it],” Mr. Rymer said. “Based on the original assessment [after Irma] … the tender bay facilities was structurally unsound. So now we’ve gotten to the point where we’ll do a design and go for that.”
He added that he will continue working to ensure that all needed repairs are carried out.
“I fight hard, I push hard,” Mr. Rymer said. “And it may seem that things are not moving on the forefront, but behind the scenes we are trying our best to push and push.”
The minister said the phase-three contract will be funded by a capital expenditure allocation included in this year’s budget.
Sign of change?
Meanwhile, the fire station also lacks a sign, which Mr. Jeffers said was removed when the first phase of construction commenced.
“There was a sign that said, ‘Virgin Islands Fire and Rescue Service’ up there,” Mr. Jeffers said, pointing toward the roof of the building. “They have not put it back up.”
Mr. Rymer said he hadn’t been briefed on the signage matter and would have to check with the fire chief.
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