The Veron firefighters actually made it to the fire along with the fire trucks from the Punta Cana airport. Unfortunately, it appears they weren't immediately notified and also had a bit of a hard time reaching the fire. When they got there, they had low water pressure and I believe a water truck from the airport thankfully was on hand to supply water to one of the engines. They managed to keep it from spreading any further which is, according to what I was informed, basically what you need to do with thatched roof (cana) fires. The hotel was evacuated due to the smoke as a precautionary measure and thankfully no one was injured. The tour operators from what I heard are to be commended for their quick action in getting people out of there. The hotel apparently didn't know how to react... In the end, a beach restaurant, bar and part of the spa were the only "fatalities".
It's obvious this area is deficient with regards to both fire codes and the necessary firefighters. The Veron station has 2 trucks, one that's out of service due to motor problems (27 years of use) and the other has to date been used in over 20 fires and was donated by a Canadian through the Rotary Club but I don't think it's prepared to handle big blazes. The airport has class A engines but obviously their main focus is on the airport and on a busy day with many flights, they can't let them leave the property. Thankfully (if I can say it that way), the fire occured at night when there weren't many, if any, flights so they were able to assist. You can check out the Veron firestation's page on Facebook (Bomberos Veron Punta Cana), they posted some slightly blurry pictures of the fire the other day.