Some Fire Hydrants Missing Inspections

By ELLEN GEDALIUS The Tampa Tribune

Published: Aug 4, 2007

TAMPA - The fire hydrant around the corner or down the block from your home probably hasn't been inspected in at least two years.

In fact, despite collecting hydrant maintenance fees of about half a million dollars annually, the Tampa Water Department hasn't inspected some hydrants in as many as five years - a violation of not only city standards but state law.

The city water department says it strives to check each hydrant every two years. Only 35 percent were inspected on that schedule, however, according to a Tampa Tribune analysis of records kept on the 12,791 fire hydrants maintained by the water department.

That means the department has failed to test nearly seven out of 10 hydrants since July 2005.

Even worse, the water department appears to be violating a state law that requires hydrant owners ensure annual inspections. In Tampa, the water department has failed to hit that mark on 86 percent - or nearly 11,000 - of the hydrants.

Although water department and fire department officials vow that hydrants have worked properly during blazes, the lack of regular inspections raises concerns about whether water will flow from hydrants during the most critical of times.

At least three times since 2001, hydrants in the Tampa Bay area failed firefighters as they battled blazes. Elsewhere in the state, including in Freeport and Orlando, firefighters had problems with hydrants that didn't work. In one case, a church was destroyed. In the other, an elderly woman died.

Should Tampa residents be concerned that something similar could happen here?

"We've obviously fallen off the target the past few years," acknowledged Brad Baird, water department director. "The fact we're not meeting our targets is a concern to me, and for that reason we need to get on top of this."

Baird was not familiar with the state law until shown a copy of it by the Tribune. Neither was the city's fire chief.

Annual Examinations Advised

The city of Tampa, like many municipalities locally and nationally, assigns to the water department the responsibility for inspecting fire hydrants.

Water department workers inspect valves, the threading on caps and water pressure. They make sure hydrants are well painted to prevent corrosion and to ensure firefighters will easily spot them during emergencies. They make sure the grass near hydrants is well maintained, or that fences or other barriers haven't been erected that could hinder access, possibly costing critical seconds.

They also check to make sure the hydrants haven't been physically damaged from cars banging into them.

The city's fire department pays the water department $40 per hydrant, per year, for this maintenance service. With more than 9,000 hydrants in city limits, that comes to roughly $364,000. Tampa's water department also is responsible for maintaining approximately 3,700 hydrants in unincorporated Hillsborough County. The county pays the city $60 per hydrant, per year, or about $222,000. The money collected goes into the water department's general operating fund.

The county's fire chief is concerned by the lag in inspections.

"If we're paying for service and we're not getting the benefit of the service, obviously it does bother me," said Chief Bill Nesmith of Hillsborough County Fire Rescue. "They have a responsibility. We can have problems, particularly on a public safety side. The potential is there."

Two national organizations - the National Fire Protection Association and the American Water Works Association - recommend that hydrants be inspected annually, or twice a year in colder climates.

Jack Hoffbuhr, director of the Colorado-based American Water Works Association, said he has heard of cases when hydrants didn't work at fire scenes. That's part of the reason the association recommends annual inspections.

"It is a good balance between actual practices in the field and what we'd like to strive for: making sure they're in good repair to make sure they can serve their primary function, which is fire protection," Hoffbuhr said.

John Dean, president of the National Association of State Fire Marshals, agreed that hydrants need to be inspected regularly.

"I don't think anybody would ever dispute the importance of them working," Dean said. "Certainly, the fire department counts on it."

'Hydrant … Not Working'

Chris Vaughan's father and stepmother died in February at a house fire on Colby Lane in North Tampa. A note on the Fire Department's incident report reads: "Water department notified hydrant at 25th/Colby not working."

Vaughan, 23, has seen that report and has hired an attorney, though no suit has been filed against the city. Vaughan thinks a hydrant didn't work properly. The hydrant hadn't been inspected since May 2004, nearly three years before the fire, city records show.

"In my eyes, that's why my dad died," Vaughan said. "They took time to switch hydrants instead of finding my dad."

Fire Chief Dennis Jones said the hydrant worked during the fire. Only when firefighters shut off the hydrant did they realize the hydrant was leaking.

The Tribune listened to a partial tape of the fire department's dispatch regarding the hydrant after the fire was out.

"I'm shutting this hydrant down," someone says on the tape, "and I now have water coming from the ground. You might want to notify the water department that they're having problems with this hydrant at 25th and Colby."

Despite being notified that day, the water department did not follow up on the hydrant until May 25, city records show, roughly 16 weeks after the fire. When the water department inspected it, workers found no problems, according to a department official.

Officials Unaware Of Law

Last year, state Sen. Lee Constantine, R-Altamonte Springs, set out to require that privately owned fire hydrants be inspected on an annual basis. He had heard reports from firefighters about faulty hydrants, and then in 2006, a fire in southwest Orange County left one dead when a hydrant didn't work.

Constantine later added publicly owned hydrants to the bill, which passed and was signed into law last year. Those who don't comply are subject to a second-degree misdemeanor charge, according to the senator's legislative aide.

"I'm trying to ensure when a firefighter goes to a hydrant, it works," the state senator said.

Jones, the fire chief, did not know about the law.

"Who reads every section and finds out what changes are made?" Jones said. "There probably should be somebody, but there's nobody who tells us when the code changes.

"We became aware of it when you made an issue out of it."

Baird didn't know about the law either. He has been in charge of the water department for a little more than a year and said maintaining fire department equipment is his chief priority. He describes the fire department as water's No. 1 customer.

The fire department seems satisfied. When firefighters turn on hydrants, water flows, Jones said.

But how can he be confident hydrants will work when needed if inspections are so irregular?

"I can't answer that," Jones said. "There's not a lot of moving parts in a hydrant. When we open a hydrant, water flows out of them."

Baird said the past few years have been tough as more of the city's aging pipes ruptured, causing the water department to spend more time fixing problems than preventing them.

"We are simply not able to meet our targets with the personnel we have," Baird said. About 100 people work in the city's water distribution division, the division responsible for hydrant inspections.

The city's pipes are, in fact, showing their age: About 15 percent of the city's 2,300 miles of pipe is more than 60 years old.

About a year ago, the city's water distribution division was reorganized. Rather than have experts focusing on various areas, such as hydrant inspections or pipe repair, employees were assigned to geographic areas. The city was divided into quadrants, and employees were cross-trained.

For example, hydrant experts learned how to repair pipes. Meter experts learned how to inspect hydrants.

The city paid a consultant $73,000 to develop the reorganization. Several weeks ago, the consultant returned to address problems with the new structure. The firm was paid an additional $2,700 for the repeat visit.

Baird is convinced that the reorganization will pay off, when all employees know how to do everything. Now, though, some people inspecting fire hydrants might not be as proficient as those who previously had focused on that kind of work. The newly trained people take longer, resulting in a slowdown.

If the Tampa City Council next week approves a water rate increase, the city will look to hire an outside company to inspect hydrants. Baird estimates that outsourcing could cost about $1 million.

Hillsborough County has a contract with a private firm to inspect fire hydrants annually.

Vaughan, the 23-year-old whose dad and stepmother died in the Colby Lane fire, is disgusted with the fact that the city is so far behind on hydrant inspections.

Told that city records show the hydrant was last inspected in 2004, Vaughan said: "That's three years ago. There's the problem."

Researcher Michael Messano contributed to this story. Reporter Ellen Gedalius can be reached at (813) 259-7679 or egedalius@tampatrib.com.