After Tragic D.R. Resort Fire, Melia Punta Cana Gets its Own Fire Department

On June 19, a catastrophic fire tore through the Viva Wyndham Dominicus Beach resort in Bayahibe, killing one tourist, injuring nine others, and forcing the evacuation of nearly 1,700 guests. 

The disaster has renewed urgent questions about fire protection across the Dominican Republic’s tourism sector. 

But one company had already taken action – instead of relying on distant and limited municipal resources, the Melia Punta Cana Beach Resort took a different approach — it partnered with an American fire protection company to build and staff a professional fire department on its grounds.

The Bávaro Beach property worked with Rural Metro Fire, a private fire protection company based in Alabama, to build a dedicated on-site fire department. The partnership recognizes the fire risks inherent to large Caribbean resorts, where thatched roofing, open-air construction, coastal winds, and high guest density can let a small ignition spread with frightening speed.

“Meliá looked at the risk clearly and chose to get ahead of it,” said Chief John Hannon, president of Rural Metro Fire. “The on-site fire department we built together reflects a shared understanding that local emergency response, however capable, can be stretched thin or simply too far away when a resort fire develops as fast as these can.”

The fire at the Viva Wyndham Dominicus Beach resort in La Altagracia Province was a case in point. Fuelled by strong coastal winds and thatch roofing, it took 15 units roughly five hours to control. Nearly 700 rooms were destroyed, one guest died, and some 1,700 tourists were evacuated. The disaster has intensified scrutiny of fire safety across a sector that welcomed more than 10 million visitors in 2025.

According to Rural Metro Fire, Punta Cana’s resort development has often outpaced the local fire infrastructure meant to safeguard it. In many areas, the nearest municipal station is miles away, with limited apparatus and long response times across heavy tourist traffic. 

Rural Metro Fire’s on-site model goes well beyond regional emergency services alone: trained firefighters, dedicated apparatus, and resort-specific response protocols are maintained on the property, 24 hours a day. 

“In a resort fire, response time is everything,” said Hannon. “Firefighters who are already on property, who know the layout and the risks, represent a fundamentally different level of readiness than waiting for help to arrive from elsewhere.”