Sprawl exceeds reach of hydrants

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Interesting article in today's "USA Today"

Sprawl exceeds reach of hydrants

By Joseph Gidjunis,

USA TODAY

SALISBURY, Md. — When Robert and Tammy Weber bought their dream home in 2004, they didn't give a thought to the fact that the nearest fire hydrant was more than a mile away.

"Having the entire house burn down is one of those things you don't ever think is going to happen to you," Robert Weber says.

On July 17, that's exactly what happened. Three tankers of water couldn't put the fire out in their late 1990s subdivision house.

Six out of 10 homeowners in Wicomico County, Md., a growing area between the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, do not have hydrants within the recommended 1,000 feet, says Jack Lenox, county planning and zoning director.

Nearly a fourth of U.S. families face the same protection inadequacies as the Webers because they live in extended suburban or rural locations with no hydrants, says Lori Moore-Merrell, an operations analyst with the International Association of Fire Fighters. The lack of fire hydrants is a growing problem as more homes are built outside urban and suburban infrastructure, she says.

States create their own standards, and localities may or may not enact stricter rules, says Chris Jelenewicz, an engineer with the Society of Fire Protection Engineers.

"Municipalities and county governments are finding with this far-flung development it costs a lot to extend the basic infrastructure," says Anthony Flint, public affairs director of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

In Wicomico County, it costs about $15,000 per house to run water and sewer service into a new development, Salisbury, Md., City Manager John Pick says.

Hydrants, which are recommended every 1,000 feet, cost about $1,200 apiece, according to Jim Smalley of the National Fire Protection Association.

Proximity to hydrants and fire stations has always been important to homeowners because it influences insurance rates.

In Lexington, Ky., for example, the owner of a $100,000 home in the city limits pays about $400 a year, but the rate is $1,200-$1,500 a year on the outskirts of the county, says Donna Pile, president of the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents.

Gidjunis reports for The Daily Times in Salisbury, Md.

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One of these days this would happen. There are more important things than property development and building McMansions for reach cheese-eaters. I wonder what happens in communities without Tankers. Ah well.

-Joe DA BUFF