five_alarm
11-14-2003, 11:20 AM
The first emergency crewman to watch the McLure fire grow from a grassburn to a Class 6 inferno told a provincial review of a harrowing night spent without support. "Three days after the fire started we didn't see any trucks and the power was out," said Al Gotuaco, McLure fire department's incident commander. "All we could do was talk with 911 dispatch." The volunteer firefighter was first to arrive after the McLure fire started July 30 from a discarded cigarette. He forced back tears as he related how crews could not get to the fire when it first started in heavy trees, away from roads.
Source: Kamloops Daily News (http://www.firehall.com/refer.php?url=http://www.canada.com/search/story.aspx?id=8b518440-a830-450c-987f-5526591cfadf&linkid=263&parent=news(headlines)&)
Source: Kamloops Daily News (http://www.firehall.com/refer.php?url=http://www.canada.com/search/story.aspx?id=8b518440-a830-450c-987f-5526591cfadf&linkid=263&parent=news(headlines)&)