Fire officers released from hospital

(CNS): Fire fighters Jason McCoy and Garfield Ritch, who were both injured when a fire truck flipped on the Cayman Brac airport runway last week, have been released from hospital, officials have confirmed. Meanwhile, the investigation into what went wrong continues and plans are being made to shuffle fire trucks around on the Sister Islands to allow jet services to resume to the Charles Kirkconnell International Airport. The fire service is also trying to buy a replacement truck for the one that crashed as quickly as possible.

“After working diligently with other Cayman Islands Fire Service’s senior management and with the Cayman Islands Airport Authority we have decided that, whilst the backup fire truck at Cayman Brac will provide adequate fire cover for Category 6 jet movements, we will ship a larger fire truck from Little Cayman to Cayman Brac as the aircraft there carry significantly more passengers,”saic Chief Fire Officer David Hails in a press release from the Home Affairs Ministry.

“However, this plan will not affect normal operations at the Little Cayman Airport, as we plan to ship a smaller fire truck that will provide adequate fire cover back from Cayman Brac to Little Cayman,” the fire boss added.

At least two fire trucks are required to be on standby for Category 6 aircraft movements before a jet can land on the runway. Hails said the truck from Little Cayman will be able to serve the Brac airport once the exchange is made. In the meantime, plans are underway to replace the smashed truck, while an independent accident analyst continues the investigation into what caused the crash.

“We also have the manufacturer of the Osh Kosh T-3000 fire truck sending one of their experts here towards the end of the week to assess the vehicle,” Hails said.

The Home Affairs Ministry has facilitated the involvement of these experts to ensure that the incident is thoroughly evaluated, officials said, adding that the experts’ reports will inform the way forward. In the interest of staff wellness, they also stated that a critical incident counsellor will be travelling to Cayman Brac to speak with fire officers and offer counselling if needed.