By Claudia Gardner, Freelance WriterWESTERN BUREAU:
THREE WEEKS after the lone fire truck at the Lucea Fire Department, in Hanover, was immobilised by flood rains, the truck is still in a state of disrepair, leaving the 170 square mile parish without the ability to battle even the smallest of fires. The grounding of the fire truck has left residents hopping mad as according to them, without the fire truck, they are left at the mercy of the elements in the middle of the hurricane season without the ability to respond to any emergencies.
According to a distraught Maureen Thompson, the Superintendent of the Hanover Fire Department, their predicament started when the truck, which was on an emergency mission, got caught up in high flood rains associated with Hurricane Isidore and became immobilised. "On that day, the truck was responding to an emergency call in Harvey River District, where a pregnant woman was going into labour," said Superintendent Thompson. "The ambulance had been summoned but had to turn back and so the truck took on the mission. However, the truck never made it and woman had to be taken on foot over hills and valleys to the hospital in Lucea."
Superintendent Thompson said it was not the first time that the fire truck, a second-hand unit brought in to replace the previous fire truck, which was dubbed "Leany" because of its twisted shape and slowness, had broken in an emergency. "It broke down while on its way to a fire in Green Island two days after it was brought in to replace 'Leany'," said Superintendent Thompson. "The firemen had to sleep in the truck for two days and nights until the Jamaica Fire Brigade repairmen solved the problem."
With the new truck no more efficient that 'Leany', citizens in the parish are complaining that they have been given another "white elephant", which has once again left their fire service in a precarious state. "During Hurricane Lili, we operated with a pickup truck from the Hanover Parish Council, which we use to evacuate people who were flooded out," said Superintendent Thompson. "The situation is quite bad and the morale of the men has been severely affected as they are unable to properly execute their duties."
Desroy Gray, a Lucea-based businessman and ex-fireman, says the lack of proper representation at the Parish Council level is to be blamed for the ongoing problems at the parish's Fire Department.
"There are enough men at the Fire Department and not enough emphasis is being placed on getting proper equipment for them," Gray said. "Having a broken down unit in a time of disaster is not good enough. We need to call on the powers that be to remedy the situation."
Superintendent Thompson said that she has been in touch with the Jamaica Fire Brigade Headquarters trying to ascertain whether or not the unit can be salvaged. However, in the interim, she said that, "without fire protection and coverage, we are left to the mercy of God."
