| After more than a week of prodding
Fire Chief Harvey Applegate for the list of the status of the city's 1,200 hydrants, a
copy was provided to the Times-Tribune newspapers on Wednesday. The list indicates 210
hydrants are out of service. Chief Applegate estimated that about 70 of those are
working. A definitive number of broken hydrants was still unavailable Wednesday.
City and Pennsylvania American Water Company officials said they would meet today to
discuss replacing out-of-service hydrants.
The hydrants condition became better known after a West Scranton fire earlier this
month destroyed or damaged six homes. Several hydrants firefighters hooked up to didnt
work, although Chief Applegate said the fire was so far along it didnt matter.
Stories in the newspapers prompted hurried responses by city officials including the
replacement of a fire-hydrant inspector who Chief Applegate admitted wasnt doing his job.
While Mayor Jim Connors and City Council members have indicated a desire for the water
company to take over the hydrant system a service the utility performs in other counties
water company operations manager David Guskey said the sole agenda for Thursdays session
is hydrant replacement.
Those talks are ongoing, Mr. Guskey said of the water company assuming responsibility
for the hydrants. That is not the purpose of this meeting.
Currently, the city is in charge of repairing or replacing the hydrant itself, Chief
Applegate said. The water company handles the actual water as well as the laterals and
mains attached to the hydrant. Mr. Guskey basically agreed with that explanation, saying
the fire department is responsible for the above-ground hydrant plus four feet below
ground to where the apparatus hooks into the water system.
Our responsibility ends at the lateral, he said.
While both sides are willing to work together to get hydrants back into service, it is
clear that the problem is not as simple as sticking a new hydrant where a broken one now
exists.
Chief Applegate said that in some cases the problem is that the water companys lateral
is not of a sufficient size to support a hydrant.
Weve taken a lot of flak over things that are the water companys problem, he said.
Mr. Guskey acknowledged that the system includes pipes laid around the turn of the
century, which were adequate for fire pumpers then but are not adequate now. He said that
is a situation found in most major cities, not just in Scranton. The water company is
involved in ongoing replacement of aging pipes, spending $7 to $10 million annually in
Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Mr. Guskey said the water company is always willing to hear input from the fire
department, but he did not indicate that the department was consulted as a matter of
course when the company is determining which lines to replace. One of the topics of
discussion at the Thursday meeting, however, is moving hydrants that are now out of
service from smaller lines to bigger mains, he said.
Chief Applegate said another issue is that some dead hydrants are not really needed.
That is the case when, for instance, there is an out-of-service hydrant in the middle of a
block but two working hydrants at either end.
A further complication of determining hydrant replacement is seen in the 1900 blocks of
Gibson and Ash.
Theres nothing there but open ground, the chief said Its ridiculous for us to put a
hydrant there but its listed as out of service.
The fire department is also hampered by vehicles that knock over hydrants. Chief
Applegate said there is a hydrant in the 300 block of Cherry Street that is continuously
hit. Everytime you go by its at a 45 degree angle, he said.
Mr. Guskey said it is the water companys policy in areas where it owns the hydrant
system not to have a hydrant out of service for longer than 24 hours. But he said the
utility is still plagued with hydrants that are run over by cars or that are damaged by
unauthorized users, such as contractors who turn a bolt the wrong way. Often, the damage
can go unnoticed for days at a time.
And the city has the same problem, he said. |
