The Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) has officially opened its new £8.2 million Service Support Centre in Belfast.   

Located at Boucher Road, the centre will serve as a hub for maintenance, servicing and repair of fire appliances and operational equipment.

Opening the facility today, 28 May, Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health, Richard Pengelly said: "I am delighted to be able to officially open the new Service Support Centre for the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service and congratulate all those involved in this significant project. This new purpose built facility will be of great benefit to all the staff and will assist the organisation to deliver the best possible fire and rescue service to the people of Northern Ireland."

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The new centre will bring together key Fire & Rescue support functions under one roof including fleet and engineering, operational equipment and communications workshops, supplies and research and development.

HLM Architects and Lowry Building & Civil Engineering delivered the project over a two-year period, first starting work on site in March 2017.

NIFRS Chairperson Carmel McKinney added: "This is the largest capital investment for NIFRS in recent years and following many years of planning, hard work and dedication, it's tremendous to see a project of this scale come to fruition. It has been a collective effort from the outset between the various Departments within NIFRS, our sponsoring government Department, the Department of Health, along with the Department of Finance and Health Projects within the Central Procurement Directorate. I'm confident that collectively we have created a Service Support Centre of the highest calibre that will be used for decades to come in supporting the work of Firefighters in protecting our community."

(CM/MH)