-fire chief
The fire tender that responded to the Land of Canaan fire on Tuesday and sourced water from a nearby canal was following normal fire-fighting procedures and not scampering to get water, according to Fire Chief, Lawrence David.
He said reports about the fire tender turning up without any water were inaccurate since the tank had 500 gallons which is the amount the tender can hold.
However it was not enough to fight the blaze at Land of Canaan by the time they had arrived on the scene.
David explained to Stabroek News in an interview that a quick assessment of any fire scene determines whether the water stored in the tender would be used or a canal, adding that at Land of Canaan it took the firemen about ten seconds to figure out that 500 gallons of water was inadequate to fight the blaze.
“The fire was raging when they arrived and any effort involving 500 gallons of water would only last about a minute and a half so the firemen followed procedure and sourced from a nearby canal yet people seem to believe that this particular action of going to a canal means that the fire tender is carrying no water”, David stated.
According to the Fire Chief, an unlimited supply of water is what is required to fight large fires such as the one at Land of Canaan. He pointed out that the service also has 2000-gallon tanks on a few fire tenders but noted that even that is not adequate to fight large fires.
Further, the Fire Chief said the Timehri fire tender worked hard on the Land of Canaan fire which tragically claimed the lives of three persons- a grandmother and a little boy and girl.
The victims of the fire are expected to be laid to rest this weekend. A survivor is in hospital recovering.
