From Joint Region Marianas Public Affairs
SANTA RITA, Guam (NNS) -- Navy Sailors and civilian
firefighters partnered with the Guam Fire Department (GFD) to extinguish a
blaze along Route 17, Cross Island Road, in Santa Rita March 25.
A MH-60S Knighthawk helicopter from Helicopter Sea Combat
Squadron (HSC) 25 and Engine 2 from U.S. Naval Base Guam (NBG) Fire and
Emergency Services (FES) responded to the scene and provided support.
"The team here on Guam relies upon mutually supporting
assets across the military and civilian sectors, to be ready day or night to
respond to any number of scenarios," said Cmdr. Gregory Leland, HSC-25
commanding officer. "Our crews train relentlessly to provide 24/7, 365
search-and-rescue capability as well as our need to provide combat-ready
aircraft crews in the Pacific Command area."
NBG FES responded as part of the mutual aid agreement
between local and federal emergency services.
"We have a very, very close tie with GFD," said
NBG FES Fire Chief Robert Green. "We have the most seamless mutual aid
that I've ever seen; we assist them when they request for it and they support
us when needed. Guam is a small island and there needs to be that partnership
especially for incidents like this. It's a miracle that we didn't have to
evacuate any residents."
Leland added that the incident was a prime example of how
the command is trained to respond to an event both here and abroad.
"The syllabus used to train for combat plays well into
the skill sets needed to fight fires, rescue people from life-threatening
scenarios and be on call for any number of unplanned events, be it terrorist
scenarios, humanitarian assistance or disaster relief," he said. "The
Island Knights stand ready with our brothers and sisters in the Coast Guard,
Air Force, and Guam first responders to maintain the ability to help those in
need."
GFD was the incident commander and led firefighting efforts.
According to GFD spokesman
Ed Artero, the fire was extinguished as of 5:10 p.m.
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