WTOL.com, Toledo's News Leader, News 11 | Konop blames hydrant failures on Bell

Konop blames hydrant failures on Bell

By Colleen Wells - bio | email

Posted by Lisa Strawbridge - email

TOLEDO (WTOL) - A mayoral candidate is throwing some campaign punches over faulty water lines.

Last week, a house burned down in west Toledo. Residents say the fire hydrants didn't work. Mayoral candidate Ben Konop says fellow candidate Mike Bell is partly to blame.

Konop held a press conference Friday, June 19. He says there are 24 miles of narrow water pipes in the city that could affect how well a fire hydrant works. He wants to widen the pipes and says Mike Bell, who served as Toledo's fire chief for years, is partly to blame for the problem. Konop says this is because hydrants were not labeled during his time as chief.

"This calls into serious question Mr. Bell's leadership capabilities. He was chief for 17 years, and instead of there being better service to the community, there was actually worse service to the community when it comes to preventing fires," said Konop.

Mike Bell says he thinks it's a shame that Konop would try to leverage someone else's tragedy for political reasons. He also says the fact that he hasn't been fire chief for 2 years means he couldn't be responsible for the problem.