Local town hikes water bills to fix 80 broken fire hydrants

YORK, S.C. — Al Hanlon had no idea the fire hydrant outside his home needed repair.

“It’s appalling,” he said. “It’s as simple as that.”

The hydrant outside of Hanlon’s home is one of many on a list that officials with the city of York sent Channel 9. The list details all the fire hydrants in town that are either completely dead, need parts or need repair.

There are 80 hydrants on the list, which make up about 14% of the city’s 600 hydrants.

On the list of those faulty hydrants, some are leaking, out of service, listed as having “no gaskets,” or “steamer will not turn.” Some are simply listed as “dead.”

Dozens of fire hydrants in York either don’t work or need some repair. Some have been out of service for years. Many homeowners had no idea the hydrant outside their home was in that condition. The city’s new plan to fix them. At 5pm on Channel 9. pic.twitter.com/7gfLu7NL5n
— Greg Suskin (@GSuskinWSOC9) July 8, 2020

The York Fire Department has painted the dead hydrants black so firefighters know not to even try hooking up to them during a fire.

“It would be really not so nice if my house was burning down, or somebody in the neighborhood, and they find they have no hydrant working,” Hanlon said.

The city stopped flow-testing the hydrants in 2015, and there’s been little to no annual maintenance. It’s not clear why maintenance wasn’t part of the public works budget for the city.

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On Tuesday night, the York City Council approved a repair plan that will be funded by York residents. A dollar will be added to the resident’s monthly water bill if they live in the city, and two dollars if they live outside of town but are served by the York Fire Department.

The fees are expected to create about $40,000 a year to repair the hydrants that are out of service. The money will also be used annually for ongoing maintenance and testing (flushing) of hydrants.

Officials also said the city is due for an ISO evaluation on fire protection, which happens about every five years. A change in the ISO rating could raise insurance rates if all the broken and damaged hydrants remain.

City Manager Seth Duncan said that fact helped move the repair effort forward. He also said COVID-19 had delayed action on the issue, or it would have likely started months ago.