In addition to a lack of vehicles, the Bayahibe Fire Department suffers from a shortage of personnel. There are only two permanent staff members at the station: Chief Santana and another firefighter.
BAYAHIBE, LA ALTAGRACIA PROVINCE.- Two fires in less than 48 hours were reported in two hotels in the tourist area of Bayahibe, La Altagracia province, while the only truck available to that municipal district was damaged by a part worth only $95,000 pesos.
The Be Live Collection Canoa and Catalonia hotels were the victims of separate fires, one in the early hours of Sunday and the second yesterday after midday.
The latest casualty of the fires was the Be Live Collection Canoa Hotel, located on the Bayahíbe road, near Dominicus beach, which caught fire yesterday around 2:00 p.m., creating unrest among employees and guests.
According to the Diario Libre publication, the flames affected two restaurants and a villa of the hotel and the fire spread until after four in the afternoon, because the Bayahibe Fire Department truck was being repaired, after 57 days of not being used.
The fire reportedly started in the Milo restaurant and spread to the central dining area, storage area, and the clinic located there.
The second incident occurred at the Catalonia Hotel, early Sunday morning in the restaurant area.
According to Colonel Miguel Ángel Álvarez, president of the Union of Firefighters and superintendent of the Verón Punta Cana Fire Department, a short circuit in an air conditioner caused the fire at this lodging establishment.
Damaged fire truck
To extinguish the fires that occurred at the Be Live Collection Canoa and Catalonia hotels between last Saturday and this Monday, the Bayahibe Fire Department had to receive mandatory assistance from rescuers from other locations, because the only truck it owns has been damaged for almost two months.
The head of the Bayahibe Fire Department, Carlos Manuel Santana, told Diario Libre that the unit's transmission was damaged during the onslaught of Hurricane Fiona, which hit the Dominican Republic on September 19, 2022.
"It's a difficult transmission, one that wasn't available and very expensive, but thank God we got it and they were installing it today. The Mayor's Office bought it for approximately 95,000 pesos," Santana stated.
This vehicle, manufactured in 1991, was donated by "Firefighters Without Borders of Canada" five years ago.
In addition to a lack of vehicles, the Bayahibe Fire Department suffers from a shortage of personnel. There are only two permanent staff members at the station: Chief Santana and another firefighter, who previously worked with 12 volunteers.
During these almost two months, to attend to even the smallest emergency in the tourist area they have had to appeal to the usual solidarity of other barracks.
In the fire on Monday, the Bayahibe firefighters received support from the National Institute of Drinking Water and Sewerage (Inapa) with a tanker truck and from 13 fire units from Higüey, Verón, Punta Cana, La Romana, Bávaro, La Otra Banda, Boca de Yuma, Caleta, Villa Hermosa, Central Romana and San Pedro de Macorís.
