Fire hydrant never tagged as dry

Unknowing firefighters may have wasted more than a minute trying to use the plug as a fire ravaged apartments.

By JENNIFER FARRELL, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published July 4, 2002

CLEARWATER -- The fire hydrant that came up dry in last week's fatal condominium blaze was discovered broken four days earlier by city utilities workers, but they failed to tag the hydrant as inoperable.

Clearwater Fire Chief Rowland Herald estimated that three firefighters wasted 60 to 90 seconds tapping into the dead hydrant, which was closest to the blaze on the fifth floor of an 11-story condo tower on Island Estates.

"Normally, the guys expect to see some sort of visual identification," he said. "Obviously, we wouldn't have gone to use it" had it been tagged, as city policy requires.

On Monday, a water officer said a metal part inside the hydrant probably snapped when firefighters responded to the early morning fire at Dolphin Cove condominiums that killed two residents, displaced 150 people and sent five firefighters to the hospital.

But late Wednesday, Public Utilities Director Andy Neff said workers in his department found the hydrant jammed in the off position on June 24 but did not tag it. It was then scheduled for repairs.

Neff declined to say when he found out the hydrant didn't work. He would not identify the crew that failed to mark it out of action.

"This whole issue is under investigation," he said. "There's many pieces that we're putting together to better understand the situation."

Investigators are still working on a timeline to help determine the cause and origin of the fire, which started in the kitchen of a two-bedroom unit on the fifth floor, grew to 1,000 degrees and burst down the hallway and out the balcony, shooting four stories high.

But even before officials complete an investigation, it is clear that several factors combined to create trouble:

The 11-story building, built in 1974, did not have sprinklers. A law enacted this year requires sprinklers, but allows 12 years for compliance.

Residents tried and failed to douse the fire using the building's internal hose system. Fire officials said the residents didn't pull the hoses out far enough, causing them to kink.

A water pipe serving some of the internal hoses had been shut off, and firefighters who tapped into it were unable to get water, fire officials confirmed.

Meanwhile, police investigators have delayed interviewing firefighters after their union head insisted they have time to get lawyers.

Herald said Wednesday that the union will provide legal representation for 15 to 20 firefighters scheduled for questioning beginning Friday.

Investigators have said they believe the fire was accidental, and Herald has praised firefighters' performance, saying the department is not considering disciplinary action. On Monday, he offered firefighters immunity in exchange for their cooperation.

"This is part of an ongoing fire investigation," he said Wednesday, adding later: "It's similar to an officer involved in a shooting."

On Wednesday, City Manager Bill Horne backed the decision to offer immunity.

"We have no reason to think that there was anything done improperly," he said. "After we know the truth, then we are in a position to assess who might've had some responsibility. Then we deal with those issues then."

Witnesses last week described a chaotic scene.

Two firefighters stood suspended in a cherry picker, aiming their hose at flames raging less than 30 feet away.

When nothing came out, firefighters shouted for water.

A number of witnesses said it was 20 to 30 minutes before firefighters strung a hose to another nearby hydrant and got a stream of water onto the fire from the outside.

Herald downplayed the importance of an outside water source. The first line of attack, he said, is always from inside the building. The idea is to flush the fire outside, rather than hitting it with water from the outside and pushing it back into the building.

Firefighters tapped into the building's internal water system for that inside attack.

Herald said the primary responsibility of the crew trying to get the faulty hydrant working had been as a rescue unit. Had they needed water, Herald said their truck carried 300 gallons of water.

Once the crew discovered the hydrant malfunction, it radioed another truck to hook up to a different hydrant.

Still, knowing the hydrant was broken would have saved firefighters valuable seconds.

"Certainly, the most up-to-date information on the status of fire hydrants and water supplies is critical to us," said Herald. "The key for the crews is the visual indicators."

-- Times staff writer Aaron Sharockman contributed to this report. Jennifer Farrell can be reached at (727) 445-4160 or farrell@sptimes.com.

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