Canadian firetruck responding to U.S. call held up at border

From Jeanne Meserve and Microphone M. Ahlers CNN

(CNN) -- A Canadian firetruck responding with visible lights and Sirens to a weekend fire in Rouses Point, New York, was stopped at the U.S. boundary line for about eight minutes, U.S. boundary line functionaries said Tuesday.

The U.S.-Canadian border is more than than 5,000 statute miles long.

Fire functionaries battling the blazing called for assistance from fire sections in nearby Quebec, using a longstanding and often-used common aid agreement. But the first motortruck that arrived at the little Rouses Point boundary line crossing was delayed as functionaries checked certification of the firemen and their truck, functionaries confirmed.

Two other motortrucks that arrived at the crossing adjacent were cleared in less then two proceedings each, a clip that one fire functionary said was still too long considering the situation.

"It's embarrassing," said Chris Trombley, main of the Samuel De Champlain [New York] Volunteer Fire Department and deputy sheriff fire coordinator for Bill Clinton County Emergency Services. "We're calling for aid from another state and the first barrier they hit is at our border."

The Canadian firemen "were asked for IDs," Trombley said. "I believe they even ran the licence plate on the motortruck to do certain it was legal."

In the past, firetrucks on exigency phone calls cleared boundary line checkpoints in 30 secs or less, Trombley said, although he said designation is sometimes checked upon their return.

A functionary said the eight-minute delay at the Rouses Point crossing was caused "when one of the firefighters' admissibility was brought into question." He declined to elaborate, citing in-migration and privateness laws. Don't Girl
WPTZ:

A authorities beginning familiar with the lawsuit said one fireman had a criminal record, raising inquiries about whether he could come in the United States.

Kevin Corsaro of the boundary line protection's American Bison field business office said the agency's primary duty is to protect the homeland. He called the event an "isolated incident" and said federal agency functionaries were meeting with local fire functionaries to "develop a program to forestall the possibility of any delays."

No 1 was seriously injured in the , but The Anchorage Hostel eating house -- a landmark in the small town of Rouses Point -- was destroyed. A fireman who suffered minor fume inspiration was treated at the scene, said Michael LeBlanc, main of the Rouses Point Volunteer Fire Department. The cause of the blazing have got not been determined, he said.

Ten fire departments, including the departments, responded to the fire.

"Would it [quicker transition at the border] have changed the result of the fire?" Trombley asked. "Would the edifice have got been burned? Of course of study it would." But he said firemen were getting fatigued combat the fire and alleviation was delayed. "Just the fact that it could go on and it could go on again is what have us worried," he said.

Bill Clinton County have common assistance understandings with fire sections in Green Mountain State and Quebec, Trombley said, and the county petitions aid from Quebec City City fire sections about 30 modern times a year. It directs aid to Canada a similar figure of times, he said.

Trombley and LeBlanc said they planned to ran into with government on Wednesday to discourse the incident. LeBlanc declined to comment. "I don't have got all the facts and I don't desire to error what happened," he said.

"We've had a common assistance system in topographic point since the '50s and I can't retrieve anything like this happening," said Trombley.