WTOL.com, Toledo's News Leader, News 11 | Faulty fire hydrant discussed at meeting on why home burned
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By Rob Wiercinski - bio | email
Posted by Kate Oatis - email
(WTOL) - Is there a serious public safety issue in one of Toledo's oldest neighborhoods?
A council committee meeting on Tuesday focused on an incident last week that resulted in a historic home being reduced to rubble.
An early morning fire back on June 9 destroyed a home on Mount Vernon. Questions about a possible faulty hydrant were addressed by the fire chief, who says crews opened a hydrant which had another one already tapped into the same 4-inch water line.
"When they attempted to open that hydrant, they got no water. It's clear that the reason they didn't get any water, all the water was being taken out of the system from the hydrant previous to that," said Fire Chief Mike Wolever.
So the problem was with the water supply.
"The hydrant worked fine. We had water. It just wasn't enough to satisfy the needs of the size of the fire."
Other city officials testified Toledo's 12,000 hydrants are tested routinely, but that did little to satisfy Westmoreland neighbors who showed up to voice their concerns about Barbie and Herman Harrison's home going up in flames.
"The rubble that was their home is a reminder to everyone that walks by it the same could happen to any of our homes," said Colleen Kilbert.
The Harrisons are wondering why the city has yet to replace the water line along Mount Vernon that's more than 90 years old.
"I'm very concerned because it's a matter of life and death, it really is, and we all should be concerned. We all are neighbors," said Barbie Harrison.
While it may be the end of a council committee meeting, it's the start of a long term effort for action.
"The fight is just beginning. We got to get to the bottom of this," said Barbie Harrison.
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