The San Pedro Fire Department has a new station officer and supervisor, Fire Chief Orin Smith. A veteran in the national fire service, Smith hails from Belize City and has taken over the position held by Gladstone Bucknor, who manned the island’s sub-station from July 2018. Smith comes to the island with over 22 years of experience, having served in various municipalities across the country. He looks forward to working with the San Pedro community and implementing programs to benefit the residents.
Smith is a community leader, and one of his primary goals is to engage with San Pedranos and establish a close bond of cooperation. Smith is looking forward to executing training in different parts of town, sharing with those interested in the knowledge and teachings of the fire service, and educating the populace on how to react and help in an emergency. The veteran firefighter even hopes to attract volunteers after they learn how to use some of their equipment and assist the island department in fire emergencies. Smith is beginning his tenure on the island focusing on the residential areas and raising awareness of best practices to prevent fires and save lives.
Smith joined the fire service in 1999 after helping to put out a fire in Belize City. “The adrenaline rush I got while assisting that firefighting then encouraged me to join the fire department,” said Smith. He quit his day job with one of the country’s leading food and beverage distribution companies, Grace Kennedy Belize Ltd, and enlisted in training recruitment in October of that year.
His hard work paid off, and in 2003, Smith was promoted and placed in charge of a shift and later transferred to the fire safety and prevention office that the department wanted to develop. For the next four years, Smith manned this office until he was promoted to sub-station officer. With this new rank on his shoulders, he transferred north of the city to Orange Walk Town, where Smith spent four years managing the fire station in that northern town.
Then in 2011, Smith was transferred back to Belize City after being promoted to station officer. In this new capacity, he managed the training division at the National Fire Service. Smith was there until 2019, teaching intakes, refreshers, and promotional training. A year later, Smith was in the Capital City of Belmopan. He spent two years in the capital before being transferred to San Pedro in 2022 (August).
During his career, Smith said he had experienced many fires. Still, his plan is prevention, and he wants to further engage in education campaigns to inform island residents on this serious matter. Smith invites islanders to visit the fire station and share their ideas and suggestions. The fire station is located on Pescador Drive next to the police station and can be reached at 206-2372.
The San Pedro Sun welcomes Fire Chief Smith and wishes him the best in his tenure on the island.
