Western Bureau – Following Sunday morning’s fire that left $20 million in damages at a Negril resort, president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, Godfrey Dyer, and a senior firefighter have raised concerns about the deficiencies in the fire department in another resort area, Montego Bay.

Ten of the 12 units assigned to St James are not working, according to deputy superintendent of the parish’s fire brigade, Homer Morris.

“With any sizable fire in Montego Bay, we could have a serious problem with only two of 12 units functioning,” Dyer told the Observer. “When you look at what happened in Negril, it gets scary not only for the hotel sector, but for all the people inside and around Montego Bay, we must be worried about it.”

Seventeen rooms at the Tigress II property in Negril were destroyed in a blaze early Sunday because the fire units assigned to the town and to nearby Savanna-la-Mar are not working. In addition to the safety of locals, the incident has spurred debate about the impact this may have on the tourist industry. Concerns have been raised, especially, about the inability of most sections of the island’s fire department to fight fires in high-rise buildings.

But yesterday, the JHTA president said he did not expect that the deficiencies in the fire service would impact upon the island’s tourist industry.

“Fire is fire,” he said, ostensibly pointing out that fires can take place anywhere in the world.

But Morris said that the shortage of units is a serious handicap for his men, should there be a fire in the tourist resort.

“We are at our lowest ebb, we have manpower but we do not have equipment, we do not have the units right now,” he lamented.

The Snorkel unit, designed to fight fire in high rise buildings, he said, does not transport water and therefore a source has to be identified at the scene for it to be effective. With long-standing problems with hydrants across the island, this renders the unit almost useless. The problem is further compounded because other fire units that could transport water for the Snorkel’s use are inoperable.

And the fire boat, which could also be used to supply water to the Snorkel unit, as well as fight blazes along the shoreline, has been on the blink for the last two years.