THE National Fire Authority (NFA) has reiterated they can only respond to a fire or emergency call when staff is contacted on the 910 emergency line or directly at the nearest fire station.
This comes amid claims by a family living at Kanace Rd in Valelevu, Nasinu that firefighters had failed to respond swiftly to a blaze that razed their property, leaving behind damages amounting to almost $350,000.
Responding to queries, NFA chief executive officer Puamau Sowane said NFA records showed the command centre received the first call about the fire at 12.43pm, following which a truck from Valelevu Fire Station was dispatched with five officers.
Mr Sowane said they were supported by the 20,000-litre tanker from Suva Fire Station with three officers. However, on arrival at the scene at 12.50pm, the property was fully engulfed in flames.
“According to media reports, the homeowner claimed NFA was contacted ‘around midday’, however, the first call received notifying NFA of the fire was 12.43pm,” he said.
“Based on the command centre computerised call logs, there were seven calls recorded regarding the same fire, but most came in after the Valelevu station truck was dispatched to the scene.
“The last call from the homeowner came at 1.19pm.”
He said as per response procedures, command centre staff do not advise on the availability of trucks at a particular location as their role is to direct the station nearest to the scene to respond to a fire or emergency call.
“This clarification is important not only to correct the public narrative but also to maintain trust and confidence in the services we provide. In the incident in question, NFA has been given to understand that the first calls to report the fire were made to 911, which is the police emergency line.
“NFA has the trucks and manning (682 firefighters throughout Fiji) to respond to calls, but we need to be contacted via the correct channel to be able to respond in a quick and efficient manner.”
He said investigations into the cause of the fire were continuing.
