Unfortunate and incorrect
published: Tuesday | July 22, 2003
THE EDITOR, Sir:
WE FEEL compelled to respond to a Letter of the Day published in The Gleaner on Tuesday, July 15, titled 'Addressing local fire station needs' as, while making some eminently reasonable points, blaming the destruction caused by the fire on lack of water, is both unfortunate and incorrect.
It is to be noted that D&S Auto Parts was not destroyed because of lack of water. In the first instance, while no water was found in the hydrant in front of the fire station, there was water in the storage tanks on the grounds of the fire station, only a few hundred yards away from the scene of the fire. There also was water at the hydrant in Clifton Gardens as well as the Waltham, Balvenie, Manchester Road, Grove Road and Cheleston Drive fire hydrants, to name a few.
Additionally, it is to be noted that, through contact with the National Water Commission, a 4,000-gallon water truck from the Rapid Response Unit of the Ministry of Water was dispatched to the scene of the fire, long before the small 800-gallon fire truck had returned.
The National Water Commis-sion recognises and is working to address the need for the expansion of the Greater Mandeville Water Supply System as the continued sprawling growth of the town has now exceeded the capacity of the existing system.
