The Orlando Sentinel
VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Volusia County officials Tuesday were reviewing their procedures for maintaining fire hydrants after a breakdown in communication left firefighters in Deltona without water during a home fire Monday.
No one was injured. The residents were not home during the 11:15 p.m. fire that state fire inspectors said was arson.
The hydrant in front of the house on Brewster Drive was out of service, city officials said.
The county acknowledged it should have alerted Deltona officials but failed to do that. Firefighters were forced at the last moment to get water from another hydrant about 1,800 feet away, city officials said. Damages to the home are estimated to be $250,000 to $300,000.
“As of right now, we’re trying to determine what went wrong in our procedures,” county spokesman Dave Byron said Tuesday.
Even though the hydrant is in Deltona, the county maintains it because the county provides water to that part of the city.
Byron said Volusia maintains “hundreds” of hydrants and that the one on Brewster Drive is only one of two older hydrants that are inoperable.
He couldn’t say where the other hydrant is, except that it is in southwestern Volusia.
“This should not cause any citizen out there to be concerned that the one in front of their home won’t provide water,” Byron said.
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