The fire truck responding to the fire which destroyed the roof, windows, and contents of a house in Campden Park on Monday got into an accident on the way to the scene of the fire.
Sergeant John Henry of the Fire Department, who was driving the fire truck, said he was overtaking a line of vehicles near the bridge in Campden Park when the accident occurred, sometime after 9 a.m.
He said that the siren and emergency lights were on, but the driver of the car involved in the accident claimed not to have heard the emergency service vehicle approaching.
Henry said that while he applied the brake, the weight of the truck caused it to slide on to the car.
Henry said it took about 10 minutes to clear the road and allow the flow of traffic to resume.
“It was an accident,” he said.
Stavius and Dolita Diamond, a married couple, and the other five members of their household, composed of Dolita’s children and grandchildren, lost all their belongings in the fire.
Dolita, whose only source of income is collecting and selling recyclable plastic bottles, said it took a very long time for the fire tender to arrive.
She estimated an hour.
Dolita said she and her children had spent years living in the community centre, before erecting the house along the river side.
Read: Fire leaves Campden Park family homeless, again
If the fire truck did indeed had its lights on and siren blasting, then I say charges should be brought against the driver of the vehicle. Move, get out the way!
People will never learn, somehow people dosen,t care about others,
I don,t think the laws in St Vincent is the same as others countries, no I don,t think so, or as far as I KNOW maybe someone was DRUNK, There are far too much drunking men AND women who drives in St Vincent and the grenadines.
If the Autorities rule on a law that every time someone make an accident and the police is called both drivers pay to the Government for the time to investigate or loose their license for six years. By the way the investigator may be on the upward side. I work for years in St Vincent & the grenadines Born too.
I had a bad experience with one of those trucks few Sundays ago because in my opinion the driver was acting like a criminal, having absolutely no regard for other drivers and their lives.
I live at the new development in Harmony Hall. Those who are familiar with this area will know about the steep hills. I was going up in a car and the fire truck was SPEEDING coming DOWN one of those hills. The roads aren’t very wide, and the driver would have seen me coming up if he isn’t blind. I had already stopped and the criminal driver only stopped when he realised he would have hit me.
I think these people don’t care because its not their vehicle, it’s government’s. When will Vincentians realise that we are the government. We run the country. So when criminal-minded people like these act this way they need to realise that they themselves are affected in some way.
Being an hour or two mlate would make no difference whatsover to the outcome of the fire.
In the history of this engine they have never yet put out a fire. Fires alway burn out before they are put out.
It has been known to turn up without water in the tank. Low water pressure from the pump makes spraying and spouting farcicle.
Hoses that leak water everywhere but from the spout.
Fire men have been seen attending fires in there private clothing, no protection worn.
Our fire service has always been considered a joke.