Fire Dept lacks full complement of trucks – SFC hears
These revelations were made to the Standing Finance Committee when the Fire Services Department appeared before it during their deliberation of the 2014 Budget Estimates recently.
Posing questions to the personnel from the Fire Services Department was Deputy Speaker and Deputy Chairman of the Finance Committee, Honourable Delores Christopher, Member for the Fifth District.
She asked how many fires were responded to in 2013. In response, Chief Fire Officer Zebalon McLean stated that there were 265 calls for that year. Mr McLean said too that these calls constituted of different emergencies and comprised 45% medical calls and four structural fires.
Hon. Christopher then sought clarity as to whether the information stated was for the entire Territory and McLean’s response was “yes.”
The Fifth District Representative then asked the CFO whether the Department was well equipped to deal with the challenges and types of fires. He responded saying that there were challenges and explained that some of the Department’s fire trucks needed replacing but the Department was trying its best.
Hon. Christopher asked McLean how many fire trucks were in the Territory, he responded saying that there were four of them in Road Town; one at each station, two trucks at Headquarters that needed replacing and one in Virgin Gorda.
When asked by Hon. Christopher to elaborate on the challenges faced by the Department, McLean said that one of the trucks had to be repaired because its chassis was broken. He said that the largest truck at Headquarters became operational only after parts from other vehicles were swapped with non-working parts.
The Deputy Speaker and Member for the Fifth District Hon. Christopher asked the CFO if he was completely satisfied with the staff complement, to which he responded saying he would like to have six persons added to the team but was satisfied nonetheless and said he would make do with what he had.
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12 Responses to “Fire Dept lacks full complement of trucks – SFC hears”
When wade cut her a.. we will make her the fire chief