49 News investigation uncovers faulty fire hydrant files
10 p.m. Sunday, November 18, 2007
John Warren is no stranger to fire. Just months ago, the Topeka resident witnessed the Villa West apartment fire that killed a firefighter and left many homeless.
“It was, I would say definitely an unpleasant experience,” he said.
Warren says the fire consumed the building so fast, he didn't feel safe living in the complex any longer.
So he moved to 1635 SW Mulvane.
Fire Hydrant Concerns
There are nearly 5,000 fire hydrants in Topeka. If you have problems or questions about yours, you can call the Water Department Customer Service line at (785) 368-3111.
He thought he'd be safer here in a house, instead of surrounded by apartments filled with strangers who could start a fire at any time.
And with a fire hydrant in his front yard, Warren says he finds comfort knowing it's there in case of a fire.
But that feeling soon changed.
“Now what if I told you that according to city records that your fire hydrant is out of service?” I asked. He replied, “That would concern me greatly.”
49 News obtained records from the Topeka Water Distribution Office.
They show the hydrant in front of Warren's house has been out of service since June 29th.
For almost five months, city records labeled it worthless, and Warren had no idea.
“We would've had a fire at our house and we would've been in big trouble,” he said.
We asked the city why nothing's been done to fix it.
“Well I haven't actually checked on the status of this one,” said Don Rankin, Water Superintendent. “It looks like it's pretty new though.”
Fire Hydrant Pressure Codes
The tops of fire hydrants are color-coded to indicate the amount of pressure it holds.
The following list shows what color represents the hydrant’s amount of gallons per minute.
• Light Blue: 1,500 or more
• Green: 1,000 – 1,499
• Orange: 500 – 999
• Red: Less than 500
But I showed Rankin the city's records that show it's not new.
After checking a message, he told us the hydrant was replaced in July.
The hydrant is fine, but the city's records are all wrong.
So the eight hydrants the city's records said were not working, we uncovered, really are.
“So basically what you have is a list that it hasn't been updated,” Rankin said. “Can you tell me why?” I asked. “Well, no. I don't know,” he said.
I asked Topeka Fire Chief Howard Giles if he was surprised the records were incorrect.
“I think to answer your question,” he said, “it is possible as evidenced here that there is some cracks in the system.”
Two years ago, the water department started a joint program with the fire department.
Both are responsible for testing hydrants and making sure they're ready to use.
Faulty City Records
The City of Topeka released faulty fire hydrant files. The files said certain hydrants were out of service when they were not. The highlighted files are the hydrants that the city said were out of service.
This is done through a flow test. It finds the hydrants pressure, and the tops are color-coded to indicate the amount.
A fire hydrant at 17th and Western had to be painted orange because the pressure is lower than it actually showed.
It’s a problem that could have spelled danger for you and firefighters in the event of a fire.
“If we give them the wrong pressures they can either run out of water or collapse a main, which would occur as a broken main, which then we'd have to shut the water off in order for it to be fixed,” said Mike Evenson, Water Department Distribution Foreman. “So either way they're going to lose water and won't be able to put the fire out.”
A blue tag is added to show it's been inspected, but there is no requirement on how often the city must inspect hydrants.
Both Rankin and Giles say they try to inspect each hydrant once a year, but there is no guarantee that the one in your front yard will be one of them.
“Should residents be concerned if they do not see a blue tag on their fire hydrants?” I asked Rankin.
“No, there's, they're basically, every fire hydrant will get tested at some point here,” he said. “Whether it'll be by the end of this year or not, I don't know.”
Under the new system, the water department provides the fire department with the tools to do flow tests.
Firefighters test hydrants in their area when they have time.
“We knew from the beginning that we need to get the left hand and right hand, the fire department and water division talking to each other so it's not surprising that there may be some hydrants listed that are out of service that actually have been repaired,” Giles said.
Rankin says the faulty files could be because old paper records have not been added into a new electronic system.
And when I requested the information from the city, Rankin says I got what was readily available, even though it was wrong.
“Do you know why I wasn't told that you guys have a new system and I might not get paper records that were accurate?” I asked Rankin. “I don't know,” he said.
“We want to make corrections to that system so that we don't have that happening so that when we print this report out or we receive it on a report upon dispatch that any out of service hydrant would be flagged there,” said Giles.
Meanwhile, Warren is relieved to find out his hydrant is working, and has this advice for the city.
“It's all in the paperwork,” he said. “So it should be kept up to date.”
After we questioned the city about the inaccurate records, they were immediately updated.
We even heard the information come over the police scanner in the 49 News newsroom.
We have requested the same records from the city again to double check the city has made the changes. We'll let you know the results.
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