The Tribune

IN the wake of concerns about water pressure as firefighters battled a massive blaze on Sunday, the Water and Sewerage Corporation said New Providence’s water supply system was “not designed to provide fire flows”.

In a statement issued yesterday, the utility provider said, “As has been expressed by the corporation previously after major fires, our New Providence water supply system was not designed to provide fire flows. Fire flow systems usually have a design capacity in excess of 1,000 gallons per minute, however only a limited amount of our transmission mains have that operational capacity.”

WSC said it will continue to work with the central government and Police Fire Services for the installation of groundwater fire wells in strategic locations for firefighting purposes and for all fire equipment to be outfitted with high capacity suction and discharge systems.

“Our geography is such that we are surrounded by water and have a high water table, therefore our firefighting water supply strategy must be based on harnessing these natural resources in times of emergencies,” WSC said.

On Tuesday, Fire Services Chief Superintendent Kendrick Morris defended efforts to fight a massive blaze at Jennie Street on Sunday, insisting “water was never an issue”.

While he admitted that fire fighters faced an issue with pressure from a hydrant, he said water was available.

On Monday, residents of the area told The Tribune they believed their homes could have been saved. They blamed issues with water for there not being a better outcome.

Six homes burned to the ground and four others were damaged in the blaze.

CSP Morris said on Tuesday: “With any fire there are challenges. Like I’ve said, pressure was a problem coming from the hydrant, but we were getting water. The pressure was not what we would have liked for it to have been, but water was never an issue.”

He also said: “When the officers arrive on the scene, each fire hydrant supplies 1,000 gallons of water at any given time.

“Feel free to visit the fire department at any given time and I will show you what goes on here.

“The trucks after every call do not come back to base without doing a fill up. So, that is never an issue. The truck cannot be parked at base without water so whenever they respond they respond with water at any given time.

“We have three trucks in service, and they carry 1,000 gallons of water. We also have a pumper that carries 2,000 gallons of water.”