BROWN’S TOWN, St Ann — The absence of a fire truck at the Brown’s Town fire station since the unit was assigned to Falmouth at the start of the year, has angered residents in this and adjoining communities.

Senior Deputy Superintendent Denzel Kerr told the Observer, Tuesday, that the unit was seconded to Falmouth as that parish’s truck was sent to Kingston for repairs.

According to Major Herman Douglas, the fire service’s chief technical officer in charge of general maintenance, the Falmouth unit may be ready in another week.

“The crank shaft was damaged and the unit is at the workshop, so it might be ready by next week. After that, it would only take a day to reassemble the engine,” Major Douglas said Tuesday.

He explained that a lot of work had to be done by the workshop crew, as the vehicle had run out of oil, causing the engine to cease operating.

The Brown’s Town fire service covers an area comprising 96 communities in St Ann and across the borders of Manchester and Clarendon. In addition, they provide back-up support to Trelawny when necessary.

“The fire service is short of units and resources have to be stretched but the (local government) minister (Portia Simpson Miller) is aware of the problem and should be dealing with it,” SDS Kerr said.

The St Ann Fire Department recorded a marginal increase in calls to the department during February, when compared to January 2003 but the number may increase significantly as the dry season approaches, according to Kerr.

“There were 33 calls in February, which shows a marginal increase over the January figure of 31,” he said.

While the figures are not normal for this time of year, the firefighter predicted that they will increase once the dry season begins in April.

“The parish is already experiencing drought conditions in Alexandria, Cave Valley and Borobridge,” Kerr said.

Meanwhile, the St Ann’s Bay fire station was given a facelift recently, thanks to a donation of 21 gallons of paint from National Commercial Bank’s St Ann’s Bay branch, and a cash donation of $16,000 from the Fire Brigade Headquarters. Member of parliament Shahine Robinson also contributed four gallons of paint to the effort.

“The building was in a deplorable condition but with the help of the majority of the 32 fire service staff, we were able to do a very good job on the building and the perimeter fencing,” SDS Kerr said.