NewsWhore
08-13-2010, 05:20 PM
It took 18 hours of hard work by firefighters and the help of a torrential rainstorm for the fire that engulfed the Bellon Hardware Store in Santiago to be finally extinguished yesterday evening. The fire, started by either a lightning strike or a short circuit, destroyed much of the block-long building and an unoccupied house nearby and damaged two others. Thanks to the work of the fire departments from Santiago, Navarrete, Licey and other places, the fire did not spread to De Leon Gomas, a major tire distributor, or to a large Texaco station across the street.
Losses are estimated at over RD$1 billion. However the more serious matter for many is the loss of 450 jobs that supported thousands of people. While most of these people will probably receive government unemployment insurance, for others the loss of their jobs may be far more serious in the current economic situation.
Another serious aspect of this huge blaze was that it highlighted, no pun intended, the lack of effective resources in both equipment and infrastructure to combat these major incidents. There were no working fire hydrants in the area, the fire department did not have any equipment that would have enabled the firefighters to get on top of the flames, and there were not enough tanker trucks to supply water to fight the blaze, let alone such equipment as fire suppressing foams and oxygen for the fire fighters. With the number of high-rise apartments in the city increasing daily, the need for more and more modern equipment is more than evident.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#12)
Losses are estimated at over RD$1 billion. However the more serious matter for many is the loss of 450 jobs that supported thousands of people. While most of these people will probably receive government unemployment insurance, for others the loss of their jobs may be far more serious in the current economic situation.
Another serious aspect of this huge blaze was that it highlighted, no pun intended, the lack of effective resources in both equipment and infrastructure to combat these major incidents. There were no working fire hydrants in the area, the fire department did not have any equipment that would have enabled the firefighters to get on top of the flames, and there were not enough tanker trucks to supply water to fight the blaze, let alone such equipment as fire suppressing foams and oxygen for the fire fighters. With the number of high-rise apartments in the city increasing daily, the need for more and more modern equipment is more than evident.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#12)