JACKSON, Miss. --
Jackson's new fire chief is looking into a slow response by the Fire Department that one fire victim blames for the loss of her home.
Mary Brookins, who lived in her Woodacre home for 27 years, said she is frustrated because it took firefighters too long to get there.
Fire Chief Vernon Hughes admitted it took crews about 10 minutes, but he said he's not unhappy with the response time because firefighters came from across town.
The truck that would have been dispatched was working a nearby fire on Hamilton at the time, Hughes said. Crews made it to Hamilton in two minutes.
"The reasons the unit came from a far distance is we are sending an extra unit on each call simply because we are short," Hughes said.
Three fires and a cross burning kept the Fire Department busy on the Fourth of July -- and all happened within minutes of each other at about 11 a.m.
Two of the fires were in District 3, or Northeast Jackson. While those crews were tied up, according to the chief, it took a truck from Clinton Boulevard nine to 10 minutes to get across town to Woodacre Road.
Councilman Leslie McLemore said the trucks got lost, and the chief didn't dispute that.
Jackson has 365 firefighters on staff. Hughes said the city needs 450, which means the Fire Department is 85 firefighters short.
Hughes said that by October, he expects 29 certified firefighters to join the department.
In the meantime, the fire chief said he is looking into the response time and communication between dispatchers and firefighters.
McLemore said he is planning to bring up the response time at the next City Council meeting.
News stories provided by third parties are not edited by "Site Publication" staff. For suggestions and comments, please click the Contact link at the bottom of this page.
