Ok, I'm going to chime in hear since I'm from Rouses Point. I'm very good friends with both the chiefs of the Rouses Point and Champlain FD's. I talked with the RFPD fire chief about this. He said that even if the fire truck wasn't delayed, the Anchorage would still have been a total loss...so you can't use that as an excuse. Now, on the other side of things, like previously stated, these bordertown FD's (like Rouses Point, Champlain, Mooers, Alburg, Hemmingford, Lacolle, etc.) have had this agreement for about 50 years, with no problems. Now, since I grew up there, I can tell you that Rouses Point and vicinity is a VERY close knit community. Eveyone knows everyone else. I can guarantee you that the CBP officer knew about the fire since A) they were so close to the fire (about 1mi or so) and they could have definately seen the smoke and B) since news travels fast up there, they would have known by the time mutual aid from Lacolle had been called. Also, this hasn't been advertised much, but after the Lacolle trucks were cleared, two engines from St. Paul de L'Ile Aux Noix were also delayed at that border crossing, but for only about 2 minutes each. Regardless, I'm not sure why CBP feels the need to suddenly start delaying the response of emergency vehicles crossing the border. This isn't the first time. Just look at the Windsor, ON/Detroit, MI case. It's the same idea. I think CBP needs to meet with these communities and come up with a plan to clear these vehicles through Customs much sooner than they have lately. Peoples' lives are depending on it, regardless of what you may think.
