By Jessica Van Sack
Boston Herald
BOSTON — More than 100 high-pressure fire hydrants located Downtown were out of commission last night, officials confirmed, posing a possible risk to residents in the area.
Boston Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald contended high-pressure pumps are used rarely, primarily as back-up and only to tackle blazes in high-rise buildings.
“I can’t remember the last time we hooked up a high-pressure hydrant,” MacDonald said.
However, the firefighters union disagreed.
“They use those hydrants all the time,” said Edward Kelly, president of Boston Firefighters Local 718, “at almost every fire downtown.”
The hydrants apparently stopped working after an outside contractor was hired to plug a leak in the Downtown pumping station, MacDonald said. The crew installed sealant to plug a leak.
But it was not holding, MacDonald said. The water and sewer department is responsible for maintaining Hub hydrants and it was unclear why an outside contractor was called in.
MacDonald said the maintenance crew was scheduled to return to fix the hydrants this morning.
In a separate problem, some hydrants froze at a two-alarm fire on Temple Street, officials said.
Kelly said the city also contracted out pre-winter inspections of fire hydrants for the first time last year, which he called another example of mismanagement by the Boston Fire Department.
Prior to the change, firefighters conducted annual inspections.
The firefighters union is at war with the city over maintenance issues following the death of 30-year veteran Lt. Kevin M. Kelley, who died a week ago yesterday when the ladder truck he was riding in careened into a Mission Hill high-rise. A preliminary investigation has focused on brake problems as the cause.
Copyright 2009
Boston Herald