New fire truck paid for itself Sunday
If there is any silver lining to the clouds of damage surrounding Sunday’s fire in downtown Belize City, it is the knowledge that a new truck recently purchased by the fire department probably paid for itself several times over in one day of work. This afternoon News 5’s Jacqueline Woods took a closer look at the valuable vehicle and the men who operate it.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
It is the most expensive piece of equipment at the National Fire Service, and since Sunday, has proven to be worth every penny. The aerial platform ladder truck was bought by government in November at a cost of just over one million dollars, and for the last ten months it saw action only in simulation exercises… But when the call came in from the Paslow Building, it was no simulation.
Ted Smith, Operations Manager, National Fire Service
“When we did an operational assessment of the situation in the city, based on our capability and our requirement to improve our performance, we saw the need for such a truck. The city is vastly expanding upwards and out, and upwards is the problem that as a result caused the need for this truck.”
To get a feel of just how high the truck’s ladder could extend, this afternoon cameraman, George Tillett, myself and Ted Smith, Operations Manager at the National Fire Service, took a ride up in the truck’s bucket.
Jacqueline Woods
“I am presently one hundred feet above ground. At this height, you can get a good panoramic view of the city. On Sunday, the fire fighters were at a height that put them at the same level of the fire that made them effectively extinguish the flames.”
One of the first fire-fighters to go up was Ernest Dominguez.
Ernest Dominguez, Station Officer, Nat’l Fire Service
“They might look at it from the outside and look in and say it’s quite and easy job…”
Jacqueline Woods
“And it’s the first time you actually saw a fire from above?”
Ernest Dominguez
“First time I saw a fire from above and I wouldn’t mind doing it again for the love of the job and the people.”
Dominguez says because the Paslow fire was concentrated on the top floor of the three-storey wooden structure, it made it difficult for them to attack the flames from the ground. The ladder truck made it possible for Dominguez to identify–and fight–the areas that were burning.
Ernest Dominguez
“The ladder truck help us a great deal because we could have fought the fire from above, so we could have aimed the water straight at base of the fire to give a faster cooling effect.”
Ted Smith
“You need to get up there on the level of the fire where you can see where you’re putting that water. This truck give us that capability Sunday we were able to get up there on the level of the fire, get above the fire, look down on the fire, get back down on its level and target what we wanted to hit, precisely place our water on areas that were burning. As a result we were able to contain that fire.”
The truck has the capacity to spray two thousand gallons of water per minute. On Sunday it used only half of that amount and in less than two hours, the National Fire Service had extinguished the flames.
Ted Smith
“On Sunday we only had the capability of discharging the thousand because we had one truck, one of our new K.M.E. as well, tied down supplying this truck. The K.M.E. can only supply twelve, fifty gallons per minute. We were not able to tie down two trucks to supply only this truck, cause there were other things to do on the fire ground.”
The main purpose of the ladder truck is to rescue people and fight fires on high rise buildings. Presently it is back at the National Fire Service compound where it will undergo a good clean up before it is called out once again, hopefully on a simulation. Reporting for News 5, Jacqueline Woods.
According to Smith, the National Fire Service will soon take delivery of three new fire trucks, all of which will be assigned to district towns.
