United Development Company breaks ground on the Pearl-Qatar's first fire station

The event was attended by high Civil Defense officials as well as the Chief Executive Officer and a group of United Development Company senior executives.

The planned station will serve the Island and its current residential and commercial occupancies, presently served by a station temporarily set to serve the Island's emergency needs. Its service area will cover all precincts of The Pearl-Qatar.

Construction on the fire station started in December 2012 and is expected to be completed in January 2014, with a projected cost of approximately QR25m.

"This is an extremely important development for the community at The Pearl-Qatar," Ebrahim Al-Sulaiti, Chief Executive Officer of United Development Company, said.

"Along with reducing the demands on the stations now serving the areas closer to the Island, adding an additional fire station would reduce response time and therefore bolster security measures and safety at The Pearl."

While current response times for areas in the West Bay District and vicinity range from five to 10 minutes, the new station will reduce response time to areas at The Pearl to less than three minutes, meeting the highest of international time standards.

The 2,000 square meter station will feature:

Three apparatus bays
4-5 fire engines
4 ambulances
Central command room
Multi-purpose room for seminars and staff training
Five individual sleep rooms, each with a bathroom and shower
Eat-in kitchen
Exercise room
Laundry room
Storage area

The Pearl-Qatar has a set of sophisticated health and safety processes already in operation on the Island, from which a key component is The Pearl-Qatar's Official Emergency Guide. The guide details measures to be undertaken by first observers and respondents to an emergency. The Health and Safety team is also well equipped with state-of-the-art gear and operates vehicles with wireless communication system, firefighting and emergency kit.