“One is a tanker and the other is a wildlife fire truck [which] is temporarily out of service due to brake problems and is being repaired,” DPS spokesman Sgt. Thomas A. Blas Jr. told the Variety.
He said there are six fire stations on island:
• Kagman with ambulance and fire truck
• Koblerville with ambulance
• San Roque with a fire truck
• Susupe with rescue unit and fire truck
• Garapan with ambulance and fire truck
• Capital Hill which is temporarily closed
When asked about the claim of Koblerville residents that firefighters responded almost an hour after a fire was reported, Blas said: “Currently, there is only one fire truck available.”
On the day of the incident, Blas said, “the fire truck, which was the only operational one at the time, was dispatched out from the San Roque fire station to respond to Koblerville.”
“As you can see,” he added, “ambulances are stationed in the highly populated areas and most commonly respond to Garapan, Kagman, Susupe and Koblerville. The only working fire truck is stationed in San Roque due to low calls in the area.”
According to DPS records and dispatch log, Blas said the fire truck response from San Roque to Koblerville fire incident “showed a run time of 24 minutes which is a reasonable response time for the responding truck (tanker).”
Police said they received the call at around 5:40 p.m. on Sunday and responding medics and fire engines arrived at the scene at about 6:04 p.m., but the occupants of the house said a neighbor called DPS at 5:05 p.m.
When asked for comment yesterday, fire victim Bibeth Albiso said she would talk to her neighbor to clarify the exact time her neighbor called 911 for fire assistance.
