Public Opinion
ST. THOMAS, Pa. — Volunteer firefighters are steamed that a rural water system has welded shut the largest connections on its fire plugs.
According to the Bear Valley Joint Authority, a pump could suck water from the system and collapse its underground pipes.
The issue has become as much about communication as putting out fires.
“I believe that BVJA has a misunderstanding of fire department operations and instead of consulting with us, they make ignorant decisions,” said Mark Trace, fire chief of Franklin Fire Department. “Their actions will most likely decrease the amount of water available to fight a fire and increase the amount of time it takes for the fire department to get water from a hydrant. While the decrease in water may not seem that large, or the amount of time to hook up to the hydrant seem that long, ask the person whose house is on fire how they feel about the delays.”
Fire department officials said they were never notified about the pending action and never given a chance to discuss firefighting operations with BVJA.
“It confuses me: Why would you have fire hydrants and limit the use of them?” said Dale Carbaugh, fire chief of Mercersburg, Montgomery, Peters and Warren Fire Company. “We’re a little upset over this whole thing. No notification is not good business. If we’d talked first, this may not have happened. To go out and do it on their own, I can’t imagine.”
BVJA, a public water system, provides water to about 4,300 customers in Hamilton, St. Thomas and Peters townships. Most are homes. Some are dairy farms.
Franklin, MMPW and St. Thomas Township are the volunteer fire companies serving the BVJA area.
BVJA Manager Glynn Kindelan said, “We have in the past notified the fire departments that the ‘steamer connection,’ one of three connections on the fire hydrants, is not to be used due to the possibility of creating a negative pressure on our distribution system which could cause our pipes to collapse and put our customers without service.”
“I’ve never heard of collapsing a water line with a fire truck,” Carbaugh said. “It almost makes me laugh.”
“I’ve never heard of such a thing,” Trace said. “And if that’s their reason, why did they weld shut the ones being fed off the water tanks? If a negative pressure is created in the system by a fire engine, what will collapse first, the soft fire hose or the metal water mains?”
The operator of the area’s largest water system, Lance Anderson said, “It is my understanding from the Chambersburg Fire Department that the hoses connected to the large steamer connection are flexible and will collapse in advance of a rigid water main.”
“This is a situation that we do not have to worry about,” said Anderson, water and sewer superintendent for the Borough of Chambersburg. The borough’s water system is designed with adequate storage in town to supply the capacity of its fire hydrants.
“If there happens to be a large draw on the water system that results in a significant decrease in pressure,” he said, “the pressure reducing valves on the supply lines to town will open to allow more water to flow into town.”
BVJA has been dealing with supply problems for more than a decade. After paying millions for new distribution lines, the authority is spending more than $10 million on a treatment plant that will bring new wells on line. BVJA’s current water sources are a mountain stream and Chambersburg’s water system.
The area in recent months has seen several barn fires, which require large amounts of water.
For firefighters, “the more water the quicker, the better,” according to Adam McNew, deputy chief of St. Thomas Township Fire and Rescue.
Trace said his department sometimes has experienced low pressure at BVJA hydrants.
A 5-inch diameter steamer connection is nearly twice the size of the other two connections on a BVJA hydrant.
“Several years ago we also painted these (steamer) connections black to indicate that they are not to be used,” Kindelan said. “This year we welded tabs on these connections to insure that they are not accidently used.”
“This isn’t anything new,” McNew said. “Before they were spot welds that you could break off. It’s a piece of iron now. It’s welded pretty solid.”
Kindelan said he has “no issue with any fire department.”
Trace, McNew and Carbaugh said they were not notified that the steamer connection was being welded shut. They also said they were not aware of any official notification from BVJA about the use of black-capped hydrants.
To a firefighter a hydrant with a black cap means it is totally out of service, Trace said.
“All other connections on our hydrants are good to use as they have been in the past,” Kindelan said. “Our fire hydrants are not welded shut.”
Carbaugh said it’s just a matter of time before insurance companies take a look at this, and insurance rates could go up.
“I think there’s a whole host of things they didn’t take into consideration,” Carbaugh said.
Adams said the fire companies will be contacting township supervisors who appoint members to the independent BVJA.
BVJA has a “very minimal relationship” with the fire departments, he said.
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