"Okay, so you got good pressure.  But what's the flow?"

A CAR WENT OUT OF CONTROL around 3 am Tuesday morning in San Diego, California,  and sheared off a fire hydrant.  Unfortunately for the the driver, San Diego has a wet-hydrant system that immediately went into car-control-mode and kept the vehicle under control until the authorities arrived.

KGTV

Neighbors said that they saw people running away from the car and nobody was there when the FD arrived on the scene.  The car remained airborne for about an hour until the water department was able to shut down the water  main and bring the vehicle back to earth for a safe landing.

Fox News supplied the video:

KGTV has the STORY.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

"Only you can prevent first responder"

Contractor Had Shut Down Fire Mains, Never Restored Service

A FIRE IN A WOODLAWN, OHIO, APARTMENT COMPLEX went unchecked Sunday night when the fire department discovered that the hydrants had all been shut off.  As the firefighters attempted to hold back the fire spread utilizing booster tanks of assisting engines, a supply line was finally established from a hydrant located a half-mile away from the fire.

Cincinnati Enquirer

The 3-alarm fire started around 9 pm Sunday and about 80 firefighters from a dozen departments were able to knock the fire down after an hour.  At least 22 units were damaged or destroyed in the brief blaze.

Cincinnati Enquirer

The fire mains that serve the hydrants and the fire sprinklers are owned and maintained by the apartment complex.  Woodlawn Fire Chief Rick Mynatt said that the mains were shut off about a month ago to repair a break, and it appears at first that the contractor failed to turn them back on properly.

The Cincinnati Community Press has the details HERE.

WLWT-TV Ch. 5 covered the fire in this video report:

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Arctic Weather Challenges Northeastern Firefighters

THE WAVE OF SUB-FREEZING WEATHER THAT swept across New England and the Mid-Atlantic states Monday set up some real challenges for firefighters as hydrants froze and working areas iced over.  We are bringing just two examples of the many challenging fires that confronted fire and rescue departments yesterday.

photo by Nate Arnold

SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, FIREFIGHTERS were called out at 3:30 am for a house fire that was spreading to the home next to it with temperatures sitting at Minus-12 F. on Benton Street.  It was the third of four working fires that they had in a 24-hr. span.

Nate Arnold photo

The Republican REPORTS that the house was vacant and the fast-growing fire started burning the next house over that was about 20 ft. away.  Flying embers landed on the roof of a third house and burned through the shingles.  The first units in were confronted with frozen hydrants and rapidly deteriorating conditions.  A second alarm was dispatched ten minutes into the operation.

Nate Arnold photo

The Republican also filed this video report from the scene:

Fire photographer Nate Arnold has an 81-image photo gallery HERE.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

MONROE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, FIRE DEPARTMENTS responded to a working apartment fire where they found every hydrant in the complex was frozen.  With the outside temperature sitting at 0º F., they had to rely on a drafting operation from an ice-covered creek.

WNEP-TV Ch. 16 Scranton posted this good video report on how they met the weather challenges:

They struck a total of 7 alarms to bring in enough equipment and manpower to handle the operation and they successfully contained the fire to two units in the center of the affected building.  (Firegeezer calls it a “good stop”).

WFMZ-TV Allentown also covered the fire and posted this video on the fire itself:

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

IN SHAMOKIN, PENNSYLVANIA, THE LOCAL FIRE DEPARTMENT IN COAL TOWNSHIP started up their unique reserve engine and fought this large house fire Monday afternoon:

News Item photo

The News Item, under the headline Police Officer Rescues Dog, reports on this special firetruck that must have been made before 1940:

Firefighters, first dispatched about 1:30 p.m. Monday, were having trouble containing the blaze and at 2:20 p.m. were ordered out of the building.

They’re now working with hoses from outside the house and with a cannon truck, which was trained at the third floor of the home.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

TWO MEMBERS OF THE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL have introduced companion bills that they claim will save the citizens money and at the same time create more than 109,000 new parking spaces.  One bill proposes painting the curbstone in front of a fire hydrant to delineate the distance that a car must keep from the hydrant.  That is not being done now and supposedly many people get parking tickets because they are unaware that they are too close to the hydrant by a few inches.  If the curbs are painted to show the  no-parking limit, they could avoid the parking ticket (and save the citizens money!).

The other bill calls for reducing the distance to be maintained from the hydrant from 15 feet down to 10 feet, i.e.: five feet closer on each side, effectively reducing the area for the hydrant hook-up from 30 ft. to 20 ft., a 33% reduction.  The councilman who introduced this bill is a fire protection expert because he states:  “The law requiring 15 feet of free space on each side of a fire hydrant was adopted to allow fire trucks to park directly in front of hydrants.   However, fire trucks rarely take the time to parallel-park when responding to an emergency.  An engine company will simply double-park in front of a hydrant and run a hose, making the 15 foot rule obsolete. Allowing for a 10 foot no parking zone on either side of the hydrant will ensure that first responders have adequate space for maneuvering their equipment, while allowing New York City more space to meet ever-growing demand for street-side parking.” 

And it is there that the truth comes out….more street-side parking.  Those 109,000 new parking spaces will be sported by 109,000 new parking meters with a revenue potential of nearly a half-million dollars a day.

And they figured this out without even bothering to get any input from the fire department.  After all, who cares what the FD thinks, anyway?

Well, they are finding out that the FD cares.  Once the word got out about this bill, the fire expert on the city council started catching an earful from the FDNY.  YourNabe.com reported:

“Our trucks are 30 feet long, so we need all that space to park and operate,” said Fire Department spokesman Frank Dwyer.  The Fire Department also bristled at Greenfield’s suggestion that whoever is responsible for inspecting the hydrants be responsible for painting the “no parking” zone.

“Do you think fire fighters have enough time to paint curbs?” Dwyer said. “It just isn’t practical for us to go out and paint after we inspect and test out the hydrants.”

Read more from Vos Iz Neias HERE.

WABC-TV paid a visit to the fire expert councilman and filed this report:

Since this all broke out, another councilman says that he “would like to survey firehouses to see if their trucks really need at least 30 feet of space.”

IN BELFAIR, WASHINGTON, THE LOCAL WATER DISTRICT  is in a snit because the Belfair Fire Department doesn’t pay for the water it uses.  So the water district has padlocked all the fire hydrants and refuses to give the FD a key.  In fact, they didn’t even inform the FD that they were doing it.

The Belfair Water District says it loses a million gallons of water a year to water thieves and contractors, etc., and they are just trying to control the water usage.  But when Fire Chief Beau Bakken asked them for a key, they wouldn’t give them one.  Even the hydrant in front of the firehouse is locked.

Even the hydrant in front of the firehouse is locked.

 Chief Bakken said, “We immediately called the Belfair Water District and asked for a key. And we were refused by the water manager to get a key, and were just told that, ‘Hey, in the event of a fire, just cut these locks if you need to get into the fire hydrants.”‘

Despite their claim of water thievery, the dispute goes back more than two years when the water district asked the FD to pay for any water they use in training exercises and the fire department naturally refused.  Belfair Water District Manager Dave Tipton told tv station KOMO,  ”They will not pay for the water. We’ve asked them for 2½ years. They refuse to pay us for any water, for anything.”  When asked about the delay in firefighting caused by the need to cut the lock off the hydrant first, Tipton responded that he doesn’t think locking fire hydrants will have any direct effect on firefighting.

The fire chief is taking the actions of the water district to the county prosecutor to see if he can get any relief.  KOMO-TV ran this video report that includes an interview with one of the most muddle-brained bureaucrats you’ll ever come across:

Hat tip:  Larry D.

WHEN SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, MAYOR MIKE McGINN traveled to a P.R. event downtown Tuesday, parking was a little sparse for the mayoral SUV.  But fortunately, the citizens all thoughtfully left the space in front of a fire hydrant clear for hizzoner.  Whereupon, his driver, a plain-clothes police officer, pulled in and parked just far enough forward that the car door wouldn’t bang into the hydrant.

A news team from KIRO-TV was passing on their way to the presser and captured a video of the reserved parking space.  When they called city hall for an explanation, they were referred to the police department.  A spokesman for the SPD replied that while Mayor McGinn spoke to reporters at a podium further up the street, the driver could still see the SUV in case it needed to be moved.  Seattle police do not think this was a matter of public safety, but one of public perception.

So keep that in mind whenever you’re visiting Seattle.  Parking in front of the hydrant is allowed as long as you can still see the car from wherever you are.  Unless you are one of the “little people.”

Read the story on KIRO-TV’s webpage HERE.

“THE WATER SITUATION IS ABSOLUTELY DISMAL.” Those were the words of Waukee FD Fire Chief Clint Robinson in the small community of Booneville, Iowa, Sunday evening.  The town has no municipal water supply and therefore no hydrants, the only water serving the residents comes from wells.  When the alarm sounded at 7:30 pm, he knew about the  lack of resources and immediately called for additional help to establish a tanker relay.

WHO-TV

The fire was located in an “antique” shop that fortunately was a free-standing building without any close exposures.  By the time water supply was begun, the fire had engulfed the entire building and all efforts went to containing it.  The 80-yr.-old building burned completely down and collapsed.  However, no other structures including several homes were affected.

Des Moines Register

The Des Moines Register filed this video report that gives good coverage to the tanker relay:

The Des Moines Register has the STORY.

SOME TOWNHOME RESIDENTS IN CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA, got that sinking feeling Monday after a U-Haul truck hit a fire hydrant and broke the water main.  Within a short time, half the city block was flooded and the broken main caused a sinkhole where it undermined the area around the hydrant.

WBTV

The repairs were completed about 15 hours later.  The driver of the rental truck left the scene and has not been located.

WCNC-TV has this video report:

d

A TEN-FOOT DIAMETER WATER PIPE THAT CARRIES all of Boston’s drinking water to the city sprung a leak Saturday and had to be shut down.  The pipe carries water from the Quabbin Reservoir in central Massachusetts to the Boston area  and serves about 2 dozen of the suburban cities as well as all of Boston.  The incident described as a “catastrophic leak” by the Governor, Deval Patrick instituted a state of emergency for the area.

The break occurred in a section of pipe that carries the supply through a valve distribution chamber that sends the water into the various supply mains.

The steel pipe is only 6 or 7 years old and should not have had this problem.  At one point, the leak was sending 8 million gallons per hour into the ground and washing into the Charles River.  The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority was able to draw emergency water supplies from various reservoirs for bathing, flushing and fire protection. The state issued a boil-water order, however, because the water isn’t treated for drinking.

Later yesterday the source of the leak was identified as a failure in a steel collar that joins two sections of pipe together.  The Boston Globe continues:

Public health officials said any illnesses from drinking contaminated water would not show up for about a week.

The leak was in a steel coupling, or collar, linking two pipes. The area has been excavated and last night, a new collar was brought to the scene in two pieces that looks like a ring. The bottom half was being welded this morning and the second half will be welded on later today (Sunday).

If the patch works, there will still need to be several days of tests to make sure the water is safe to drink, said Frederick A. Laskey, executive director of the MWRA.

The Boston Herald filed this video report that shows the break and the repairs in progress:

About 265 million gallons were lost before the pipe was successfully shut down.  Now the search is on for the broken collar which washed away into the Charles.  The authorities want to find it so that they can get some clues on what caused it to fail.

Officials initially said a repair might take weeks, but diverted parts from a nearby project and welders modified them in a matter of hours.  They installed the bottom half by noon, then began attaching the top half. They then planned pressure and water quality tests, aiming to finish the work by Monday.

The backup supplies that have been diverted into the domestic mains  contain what is described as “untreated pond water” are suitable only for bathing, flushing toilets and fire protection.

The Provincetown Banner has MORE.

A CALIFORNIA MAN WHO TOOK FIRE HYDRANT THIEVERY to new heights was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of stealing dozens of fire hydrants in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.  Brian Burian, 45, was stealing them and then cutting them up before taking the brass fittings to sell to scrap yards. 

Brian Burian

 The Los Angeles Times reports:

He had the look. The man wore an orange vest, drove around in a white pickup truck with cones in the back and carried a foot-long “key” for the purpose at hand.

That’s how Inland Empire investigators allege 45-year-old Brian Burian stole dozens of fire hydrants, cutting them into pieces and then selling them as scrap metal.

Police said his luck ran out this week, when Mike Hurst, an 11-year veteran of the West Valley Water District, saw Burian driving on a south Rialto street. Hurst had been looking for the vehicle after an encounter weeks before, and saw holes where hydrants had been. This time, the 34-year-old Hurst decided to conduct a stakeout, following the pickup to a parking lot gas station and then to a home in Rubidoux, west of Riverside. He called a deputy who specialized in scrap metal theft.

The next morning, on Wednesday, San Bernardino County deputies arrested Burian on suspicion of shutting off the water from fire hydrants using a large “valve key” and hauling away the 80- to 100-pound fixtures in Riverside and San Bernardino neighborhoods.

In California, scrap yards can be charged with a felony if they purchase purloined metals from fire hydrants, but Burian was cutting them up prior to peddling them so that they were unrecognizable as hydrant parts.  He was profiting by about $50 per hydrant.

KTLA-TV has filed this video report that includes an interview with Mr. Hurst:
 

Burian already has a criminal history that includes convictions for receiving stolen property, drug possession and burglary.

Read the full story in the Los Angeles Times HERE.
The Riverside Press-Enterprise has MORE.