In the wake of Senate hearings during which he was criticized as a hands-off, "absentee director," Fire Services Director Pedro Encarnacion this week announced that seven Chevy Blazers had arrived for service in the Arson and Prevention Unit, according to a Government House statement.
In the statement, Encarnacion stated that three of the vehicles will go to the St. Thomas-St. John district and four to St. Croix.
During last week's hearings called by the Committee on Government Operations, Planning and Environmental Protection, Andre Smith, president of the fire service supervisors' union, and Daryl George, president of the St. Thomas-St. John Association of Fire Fighters, told senators that lack of leadership at Fire Services was a major problem. They said Encarnacion fails to respond to letters, memos and grievances. Encarnacion blamed a lack of adequate staffing.
In the statement from Government House, the Fire Services director also said St. Thomas-St. John firefighters had received their clothing allowance with which to buy uniforms. He said repairs to the Cotton Valley Fire Station on St. Croix were 90 percent completed and the station would reopen "in the very near future."
Encarnacion also stated that renovation work on the Tutu Fire Station on St. Thomas would begin after negotiations for a contractor are finished.
