•After the 2021 Bonacca fire a study was performed to see what could be done to mitigate and prevent a catastrophic fire on Bonacca and Guanaja. Keeping in mind the limited budget that the municipal has at its disposal-
•KEY features of this study identified the following:
• Training of identified Municipal Staff to respond to fires and other emergencies
• Minimal equipment required to provide basic level of emergency response
• Future needs of the island and cay in regard to emergency services
• Fire suppression, land rescue, water rescue, emergency medicine, emergency planning will be key functional needs
• A working Emergency Operations Plan with stakeholder agreement
While in a perfect world all these functional needs would be met simultaneously, the reality is that this will need to be a phased approach:
•Phase One:
•Hazards Assessment
•Minimal Training and Needs Assessment
•Emergency Operations Plan
•Phase Two
•Initial training of responders
•Initial equipment procurement
•Phase Three
•Expansion of Phase Two- additional equipment and responders
•Volunteer identification, training and equipping
With the assistance and cooperation of the Chief of the Fire Department, Terry Brooks, we have begun Phase One
Hazards Assessment: Identified are the most common hazards and risks for Bonacca and Guanaja:
•structure fires,
•chemical/fuel spills
•wildfires and other out of control burns,
•weather events (including hurricanes),
•water rescues (vessels in distress) and searches,
•individual health emergencies (injuries from accidents/heart attacks),
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