PARKER, Ariz. (AP) -- A woman who lost her home in a fire is complaining that no fire department would respond to the blaze in her unincorporated western Arizona community, which lies outside any fire district.
Rachele Kelley said the McMullen Valley Fire Department declined to respond to the fire, which destroyed three mobile homes near the community of Brenda on Jan. 17.
``Those trailers were 25 feet apart,'' Kelley said. ``If they had come, we would've lost just the one. We could've saved the homes of three people.''
McMullen Valley Fire Chief Desi Wolfe said the community where the fire occurred lies outside the district and the department didn't have enough personnel available at the time to cover the district and to respond to calls from outside.
He acknowledged the department had responded to calls in Brenda before because it had the personnel available.
The Quartzsite Fire Department was also contacted about the fire. Capt. Kevin Cushman said the captain on duty decided not to respond because of staff shortages and the number of people in Quartzsite this time of year
Cushman said he had never seen a situation like this before. ``We don't like turning people down,'' he said. ``We're all here to help each other. We're usually more than willing to go outside our district.''
