A broken fire hydrant near the location of Saturday’s blaze on Ky. 136-East wouldn’t have changed the way firefighters worked, says the assistant chief of the Niagara Volunteer Fire Department.
But it is a reminder that there are other unusable fire hydrants throughout the county that need to be fixed, say officials.
William Powell, the assistant chief, said that crews knew that the fire hydrant near the residence where the fire occurred—16271 Ky. 136-East—would have required firefighters to find a valve hidden in the grass and turn it on, he said.
He said firefighters knew the hydrant was not working properly and therefore didn’t try to use it.
He also said the particular hydrant does not put out as many gallons per minute as others nearby, and added the broken hydrant didn’t play a part in the work they did Saturday morning after an explosion blew up the residence.
What occurs at most county fires, according to Powell, is that tankers supply the majority of water. He said tankers are always shuttling water from a source back to the fire. That’s what happened Saturday as at least seven different departments and their equipment were on scene to battle the blaze.
Three people were inside the home, and they were badly burned from the explosion and fire, said neighbors.
According to officials, Harold Dover, Kim Dover and Nicole Dover were airlifted to hospitals. Two were taken to Louisville and one was taken to Nashville. Ages were not available, but Kim and Harold are adults and Nicole is a child, officials said.
Volunteer fire departments worked at the scene all morning and into the afternoon.
Although Saturday’s fire suppression wasn’t affected by the broken hydrant, Powell said that there are other broken hydrants in the county that need to be replaced.
Powell said departments test each fire hydrant in the county once each year. He said another fire hydrant at the U.S. 41 and Ky. 136-East was stolen five or six months ago. It hasn’t been replaced, he said.
“We have fire hydrants go missing, we need to get them replaced,” he said.
That has been one point of the work that the Henderson County Water District has been doing this year. The water district is the process of a $3 million dollar project to fix its old and leaky system.
Mark Julian, the water district’s superintendent, said over the next six months employees will be shifted from other tasks to start a county-wide assessment of fire hydrants.
Fixing broken hydrants is “very important because it protects both life and property,” Julian said.
