TOWN OF CROGHAN, New York (WWNY) – Even though the Carthage Fire Department was much closer, it was not immediately dispatched to battle a blaze a couple of miles away.
The Carthage/Wilna Fire District put out a news release to clear up why (you can read it at the bottom of this story).
Flames destroyed two barns early Friday morning at 4902 Toth Road in the Town of Croghan.
Owner Roger Haines is thankful to the Natural Bridge Fire Department but wonders why the Carthage Fire Department, which is closer, wasn’t called in sooner to help.
The question prompted the Carthage/Wilna Fire District to issue a news release “to clarify any misconceptions.”
It states the Carthage Fire Department was not requested by the Natural Bridge fire chief to go to the scene of the blaze and without the request, Carthage can’t respond because it’s not its coverage area.
“Had we been dispatched to the scene, being only five minutes away, we would have been there to assist at ‘the scene’ in a timely manner,” the news release states.
According to the fire district’s release, it took Natural Bridge crews 28 minutes to respond to the scene.
Meanwhile, the Haines credit Natural Bridge for saving their home, which was mere feet from where the fire started.
We reached out to the Natural Bridge fire chief on Monday but didn’t get a response.
When 7 News was at the scene of the fire on Friday, we asked 2nd Assistant Chief Ronald Ward this:
Reporter: Carthage is closest, right?
Ward: They are, they actually went to a fill site to set up a fill site for us.
Reporter: Okay, so they were helping, just not on scene?
Ward: They were; they were just not on scene.
Reporter: Any reason they couldn’t come on scene or…?
Ward: No. We needed the water set up so we had the incoming tankers be able to get right back out and fill up.
Carthage Fire Chief Brian Draper says Toth Road used to be Carthage’s coverage area, but that ended after the department and the town of Croghan couldn’t reach a fire protection contract, and agree to a price.
We reached out to Croghan’s town supervisor but didn’t hear back.
See the full news release from the Carthage/Wilna Fire District below:
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