| The finger-pointing in the current
controversy has not been so direct, but it appears that the lines of responsibility are
not clearly drawn for inspecting and maintaining the hydrants. The recent turmoil over
Scrantons ability to fight fires because of non-functioning hydrants is mirrored in a
lawsuit that claims a 1994 blaze destroyed a West Side building because no water could be
found for at least 45 minutes.
The city and its former water company, in various filings on the suit, both deny
responsibility for making sure that hydrants were working.
The finger-pointing in the current controversy has not been so direct, but it appears
that the lines of responsibility are not clearly drawn for inspecting and maintaining the
hydrants.
The fire department is putting together a list of nonworking hydrants and Pennsylvania
American Water Co., the citys new water supplier, is installing new ones supplied by the
city. The speed of the operation has been criticized.
And little has been said about what will be done in the future to ensure hydrants are
in working order. The suit seeks in excess of $30,000.
The lawyers fighting the lawsuit do not even hint that Pennsylvania Gas & Water Co.
and the city had any agreement about fire hydrants especially the five around the
warehouse at Eighth Avenue and Fellows Street that burned on Sept. 7, 1994.
The suit, brought by John Horitsick and Ann Marie Waltz, the brother and sister who
owned the building, paints a picture of firefighters desperately scurrying from hydrant to
hydrant as a fire that started in one small corner and grew into a blaze that engulfed the
building.
The defendants are faulted for failing to test the hydrants, failing inform neighbors
they were not working, and failing to repair them so the would be operable.
PG Energy, which sold PG&Ws water system to Pennsylvania American, was the original
defendant in the action, but it turned around and sued the city. Although several
utilities are named as defendants because of the sale, PG Energy is taking the lead in the
defense.
The utility says the city owned and controlled the hydrants. The company says its
responsibility ended where water lines from the street connected to the base of the
hydrants.
Not so, say the attorneys for the citys insurance company: PG Energy had the duty and
responsibility to insure that a sufficient and reasonable flow of water was available from
the hydrants.
The muddle is so thick that ownership is in question. The city concedes that it owns
certain hydrants, but stresses that they do not include the ones surrounding the fire
site.
Those hydrants, it contends, were owned and maintained by PG Energy. As proof, the city
asserts the utility regularly tested and operated the hydrants; was responsible for the
water-delivery system; and replaced hydrants from time to time.
The two sides also exchanged barbs about how the other treated the hydrants without
going into full details. PG Energy maintains the hydrants were properly maintained until
Scranton tampered with them. The city brings up the possibility that a water main broke.
If it did, the city says, it was caused by a failure of PG Energys laterals which caused a
hammer effect.
The plaintiffs, who are represented by attorney Dawn Guzzi, are also faulted by the
defendants.
Mr. Horitsick claims he lost 14 vehicles, built between 1948 and 1986, and 100 pieces
of equipment in the fire. Both defendants are demanding that he prove he owned them and
that they were destroyed in the building.
The suits account of the fire is also disputed with the assertion that the fire was
already out of control when firefighters arrived at 6 a.m. The flames spread quickly, the
defendants say, because there were propane tanks and gasoline inside to fuel them.
The building itself is described as unsafe and possibly illegal because it was never
certified for occupancy as a warehouse. In addition, the defenses claim, it was not secure
so someone could have entered and started the fire.
The file on the suit does not reflect any action since July when Christine Lezinski,
who represents PG Energy, asked for records relating to property damage incurred by
Michael and Carol Skamanich, 434 S. Eighth Ave., in the fire. |
