| While Scranton residents toss and
turn with doubts about faulty fire hydrants, residents of surrounding communities can
apparently rest easy. An informal Tribune poll of 18 area municipalities showed that
each had no more than one or two hydrants out of service, compared to 210, or 17 percent,
in the city.
Obviously, if you have that many hydrants out, it hinders what you can do, Dunmore Fire
Chief Vince Arnone said, explaining that, to his knowledge, all of the boroughs 220
hydrants are in working order.
In a structure fire, time is everything, he said. Every second counts. Its pretty
simple, the longer it takes to get water on the fire, the worse it is for everybody.
Youre nervous enough just trying to get everything going without having to worry about
whether or not you have water to work with, he said.
In order to avoid wasting precious seconds, Chief Arnone said its his departments
policy to open a hydrant before hooking a hose to it to make sure water is available.
Theres no sense in laying 200 feet of hose to find out youve got a dead hydrant, he said.
If we had 17 percent of our hydrants down, it would be really tough, especially if we
didnt know where they were, Jessup Fire Chief Steve Pitoniak said, adding that all of his
boroughs 83 hydrants are ready for action.
Fire grows exponentially, he said. For every minute delayed in getting water, the fire
grows, and you will see significantly more damage.
Fire damage worsened by delays caused by dead hydrants is inexcusable in the eyes of
Olyphant Fire Chief Dave Krukovitz, who said he has personally inspected all of the
boroughs 112 hydrants and found them all in working order.
Scrambling to find a hydrant that works after being confronted with a dead one can take
as long as 10 to 15 minutes, he said, several lifetimes in the no-excuses arena of
firefighting.
If I had 17 percent of my hydrants down, I would be up in arms, he said. Id be down at
the council meeting demanding that something be done. Its my job to protect our people and
our town, and Im in a mess of trouble getting my job done if my hydrants dont work.
Getting the job done is hard enough without the added dangers posed by dead hydrants,
Chief Arnone said. Dunmore firefighters often work side-by-side with their Scranton
counterparts, and if dedication alone could put out fires, the city firemen would have as
good a chance as any, he said.
Unfortunately, it cant.
I can tell you that Scranton always does a good job, he said. Those guys work hard at a
fire. But it doesnt matter how hard you work if you dont have the water to get the job
done.
Without the water, youre fighting a losing battle. |
