Holding cells directly behind the Fagatogo police station caught fire Monday afternoon.
Three inmates were being held in the two cells but according to the Acting Commissioner of Public Safety Falanaipupu Taase Sagapolutele, the inmates were outside the building when the blaze started helping crews from Public Works and ASPA who were carrying out digging work for bathroom pipes.
The building which caught fire is right next to the Fagatogo Fire Station and one fire truck stationed there responded. With electrical lines directly above the building connecting to the main police station a priority was to turn off the power.
The Governor’s Office evacuated when the fire broke out citing possible impact from power lines.
The acting commissioner said the three inmates who were held at the Fagatogo cells include one of the four inmates who escaped from the Territorial Correctional Facility on the night of June 26th and were picked up by a truck with two people. .
He said the inmate was behind the wheel when the truck that police had chased from Leloaloa crashed in Taputimu that night, killing one man. The other two inmates that were in the Fagatogo cells had been transferred from the TCF for safety reasons, according to Falana’ipupu.
This was the second fire in just four days in Fagatogo. On Friday night a home in the upper Fagatogo area destroyed a home, displacing a family of ten.
The fires are occurring while the Fagatogo fire station has been closed due to safety and unhygienic conditions cited by the Department of Health.
Fagatogo Rep Malaeoletalu Melesio Gurr wrote to Governor Pulaalii Nikolao Pula expressing concern about the closure. He said more than 40 days have passed since DOH ordered the station closed, and it remains out of service with no clear timeline for reopening.
He said the consequences of the prolonged closure became painfully evident on Friday evening when a fire destroyed the home of a family of ten in Fagatogo. He cited that because the Fagatogo Fire Station was closed, firefighters had to respond from Tafuna. “While our firefighters responded as quickly and professionally as they could under the circumstances, this situation is simply unacceptable,” he wrote.
Malaeoletalu pointed out that Fagatogo is home to more than 2,000 residents, countless businesses, the port of Pago Pago and the Executive, Judicial and Legislative branches of government.
“It should never be left without a fully operational fire station for an extended period. Furthermore, with the Fagaitua sub station currently under repairs the entire Eastern District is more vulnerable to delayed emergency response times”.
The Fagatogo faipule implored that public safety cannot be “placed on hold,” because of unresolved facility issues. He said if repairs or health concerns required the temporary closure of the station, every effort should have been made to ensure those issued were resolved, without leaving the community unprotected for more than a month.
Rep Malaeoletalu asked the Governor to intervene immediately and urged that he direct the appropriate agencies to expedite the reopening of the Fagatogo Fire Station or establish a temporary arrangement within the Maoputasi District until the station is returned to service.
“The people of Fagatogo should not have to experience another devastating loss before this matter receives the attention it deserves”, he declared.
Malaeoletalu’s letter was copied to Lt. Governor Pulumata’ala Ae Ae Jr., Senate President Tuaolo Manaia Fruean, Speaker of the House Savali Talavou Ale, Chairman of the House Public Safety Committee Avagafono Vaimaga Maiava, Chief of Staff Leonard Seumanutafa, and the Director of the Department of Search and Rescue, Utumoe Alefosio.
Photo: Titimaea Siofaga
