Why don't we have a fire station mid-island?

Yesterday, while I was at the bank in Peter’s Rest, a truck caught fire as it exited the drive-through lane. Thankfully, the fire department arrived and quickly put it out. But standing there, watching smoke fill the air, one question stuck with me: Why don’t we have a fire station mid-island?

The middle of St. Croix includes some of our most densely populated neighborhoods: Queen’s Quarter, Mary’s Fancy, Bonne Esperance, Clifton Hill, Strawberry, Sion Farm, Peter’s Rest, and Mon Bijou (see the gray areas on the map). If you’ve ever driven between Sunny Isles and Plaza East during rush hour, you know how bad traffic can be.

The drive between the Frederiksted and Grove fire stations is about 15 minutes, and 17 minutes between Richmond and Cotton Valley fire stations. That puts nearby neighborhoods within 8 minutes of a fire station. But between Richmond and Grove, the two stations east and west of mid-island, it’s a 25 minute drive, putting nearby neighborhoods within a 12 minute drive (or less considering fire trucks drive much faster).

According to what I've found from the National Fire Protection Association, the first engine should arrive within 5.3 minutes of dispatch. Stateside homes are usually wood-framed, and ours are concrete, so maybe the urgency is slightly different, but fire is fire. Every minute matters.

I reached out to the Fire and Emergency Services director, not to criticize but to ask: What can we do differently?

Mid-island residents, are you concerned about response times? Could a public-private partnership or a community-led initiative help bridge the gap? Could Oceanpoint Terminal or Diageo serve as a satellite location? If this is important to you, let your elected officials know this matters. They set the government’s budget and your voice helps shape their priorities.