Hydrants Don't Work During Fire

A big fire reveals what firefighters and residents call an even bigger problem. Water hydrants meant to keep you safe fail when needed most. Now a Bledsoe County mother has a warning: "This could save someone's life," Cindy Fitz said, pointing to a water hydrant near her home destroyed by fire. These hydrants, referred to by some as 'pop offs,' are a common source of water to fight fires in rural areas. "It could save someone's home," she said. "It could save someone's things and they wouldn't be in the same situation we're in." Most of the water hydrants around Fitz's rental home did not work when it burned to the ground last week on Tip Top Road. According to a fire report, the hydrants were not in tip-top shape. Crews had to go to 4 separate hydrants just to find one that worked.

"You know, you live in the county, you pay your bills, you pay your taxes, and things like this should not happen," Fitz said.

So what does the man who's responsible for the water hydrants up here have to say? Well, he wasn't available for an on-camera interview, but he did say most of the hydrants here are working, despite what firefighters had to say.

Calvin Wooden, the distribution operator for the Fall Creek Falls Utility District, says there are four hydrants on Tip Top Road. Only one, he says, is not working. The others are, proven he says by monthly checks.

"If that were true," Fitz said, "how come they had to go to four different ones to find one that worked?"

She showed us the closest hydrant to what used to be her home. She considers it a broken promise.

"It may not have been enough to save my home, but there's a lot of houses up here. It couldn't have been any one of these people. I don't want them to go through what we went through."

The chiefs of both volunteer fire departments who responded to this call would not talk on-camera, but they did tell me they depend these hydrants to work.

They say in a county like Bledsoe, there are few other water sources available.

One chief even said he's complained for a while about some hydrants not working but he said nothing has been done.