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Fire Chief Claims County Dragging Feet On Dry Hydrants
WEST BAY ROAD - Paul Shears is not happy.
The chief of the West Bay Road and District Volunteer Fire Department is blaming Richmond Municipal Council for what he describes as a lack of attention to dry hydrants in the county's westernmost portions, and he is warning that the volunteer fire departments falling within the Strait Area Mutual Aid Association (SAMAA) will struggle to do their jobs as long as the issue is not addressed.
Shears, the SAMAA vice-president, made his comments to TELILE 24/7 host/producer Adam Cooke following a September 18 training exercise that saw fire departments from St. Peter's, Louisdale, Isle Madame, Port Hawkesbury, Port Hastings and Valley Mills join the host West Bay Road department to transfer water from a local dry hydrant to the various department's vehicles.
"What we were trying to do was set up a water fill site and a discharge site, which would have been a fire scene," Shears explained, adding that fire departments are required to pump out water at a speed of 200 gallons per minute for insurance purposes.
"We actually surpassed that, but we found a number of issues as we did our training...What we discovered today is that our number-one dry hydrant location is not feasible to operate for an emergency. We didn't have enough water supply."
Noting that the four dry hydrants currently serving the SAMAA were installed 35 years ago and have experienced wear and tear since that time, Shears - who serves as the association's vice-president - chastised Richmond officials for not taking action on the dry hydrant issue since he and his colleagues first brought it to their attention three years ago. He noted that this period of inactivity continued after he and other SAMAA officials brought up the issue during a presentation to Richmond's Committee of the Whole meeting this past December.
Despite these concerns, Shears is pleased with what he saw from his fellow firefighters on this Saturday in September, including several department members in their first and second years of service.
"It was great, what we saw out there today," the West Bay Road chief beamed. "Everybody was running on their feet."
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