Fire services: We did our best

Republic Bank, the Local Assembly of Christian Believers Church, a DVD outlet, and Shoe World, were partially destroyed while clothing store Naughty Girls was totally gutted by the fire.

Springle told Newsday that the problem was caused by the lack of water in the fire hydrants.

"All these are false statements! No appliance leaves the station without water in the appliance, and water was not present (in the hydrants)," Springle said.

Millions of dollars in damages were estimated after fire ravaged several buildings. Eyewitnesses claimed that when the Fire Services arrived at the scene, there was no active response from firefighters.

Springle said, "The initial water supply would not be bursting through the pipe to fight the fire," adding that several agencies are discussing alternative sources of water to combat fires. The agencies are the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA), the Ministry of National Security, the Fire Services, and Leong and Partners.

Springle also denied accusations of a slow response by the firemen.

"The firefighters were excellent and the fire was contained to Naughty Girls, when the street could have been broadsided by fire. Three buildings were not destroyed, only one. "The fire was contained to one building, which is Naughty Girls, and the other two buildings had damage to the roofs and water damage," he said. Springle said Belmont Fire Station, followed by Wrightson Road, responded at the initial response of the fire call which came in at about 5.35 pm.

"We also had three new tankers and one new water tender," he stated, "with a monitor at the head branch."

Springle also condemned Port-of-Spain Mayor Murchison Brown’s attitude, saying that "patience and understanding" were necessary.

However, Brown yesterday slammed the Fire Services and WASA, saying "there was not much action to get the blaze under control."

Police and fire officials are trying to determine the cause of Wednesday’s fire.