Many of the area residents were upset because they felt the fire department came unprepared to fight the blaze. They ran out of the water and their hose had several holes in it.
Now, this is an all-too familiar refrain at fires, so today we asked Station Officer Orin Smith to give a definitive answer.
Orin Smith - Station Officer, National Fire Service
"The concept is that when the truck arrives on the scene it should discharge and the endless supply of water which impractical. We only have one tank on the truck. The truck has a limited capacity and based on the amount of water you discharge per minute it is the time that tank of water will last. It can last anywhere from one minute to three minutes. The public does not understand that concept. They would believe that ten minutes is minimum that they except water to be discharged which is really not practical."
Sahar Vasquez
"Sir regarding the hose a lot of people said there were holes in the hose. Was that from pulling it on rough terrain?"
Orin Smith - Station Officer, National Fire Service
"We did notice a number of holes discharging water that is an issue that we are working out internally. As you rightly mentioned hose can be damaged by a number of factors. Vehicles driving over them, going over rough surfaces, being punctured at the fire scene from nails or other sharp objects."
Smith says the fire department is ordering a new hose and assessing other equipment.
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