St Ann's bucket brigade fume at fire services

RESIDENTS of St Ann's spent hours between Tuesday and Wednesday trying to put out a blaze which is threatening to destroy a number of properties on a hill off upper Ariapita Road.

Fire engines responded to the blaze on Tuesday evening, the day the bush fire started, and again on Wednesday.

But one resident told Newsday that on both instances, the fire trucks arrived and left without tackling the fire, because they could not climb a steep hill to access them.

To make matters worse, the area and several other parts of St Ann's have been without a consistent supply of water.

Paul-Daniel Nahous, a resident of the area, and his wife Kandace Bharath-Nahous, along with a few other people, took matters into their own hands, from Tuesday evening into early Wednesday morning and afternoon, tackling the fire.

"I have spent the last three hours running up and down the hill with buckets of water. My wife has been filling buckets with a hose that is just trickling water," Nahous said, adding that he has asthma, which could be triggered at any point.

"An owner is currently using his hose to fight the fire, which has already crossed his fence. The fire is about seven metres from one of the houses."

He said without his and the other residents' intervention, the fire would likely have gutted about ten houses, eight of which are a row of townhouses.

Nahous said he was frustrated by the lack of urgency from the fire officers, attached to the Belmont Fire Station.

"Why couldn't they run a hose up the hill if the truck couldn't get up? They didn't even attempt to get to carry water up with us. They just turned and went, leaving ten houses to burn.

Officials have not yet said what caused the fire.

Newsday reached president of the Fire Services Association Leo Ramkissoon, who said he had no specifics and advised against interviewing fire officers, saying they are not allowed to speak to the media about such matters.

However, he Ramkissoon directed queries to Chief Fire Officer Marlon Smith, who also said he had limited details but it was possible fire officers were dealing with another fire simultaneously.

Smith said whatever the situation, he believes the fire officers are doing all they can.

"I know sometimes it can get out of their reach and also persons so affected will aid as best they can, and sometimes we have more than one fire to attend to."

He was asked if the fire service would have access to a helicopter or other equipment meant to be used on such fires.

"We don't have that access at all. You would have that kind of aid sometimes when you used to have a helicopter and what you would call a Bambi bucket. We have not seen that flown around for some time."

When Newsday reached Nahous again, he said officials had returned his calls and promised to attend to the matter. He said another fire began to flare up at about 3 pm but it did not appear to be an immediate threat to property.