⠀Criticism Follows Walnut Avenue Garage Fire
Prompted by the dangerous malfunction of three separate fire hydrants during a recent major blaze, town selectmen sharply criticized the Fire Department last night for failing to maintain rigorous oversight of local water infrastructure.
The board voted unanimously to summon Fire Chief Thomas Barry and Public Works Superintendent Paul Wollenhaupt to appear at the next selectmen’s meeting to clear up confusion regarding departmental responsibilities and accountability. “I think this is very serious. A person has every right to believe the hydrant out in front of his or her house is functioning,” Selectman Walter Dempsey declared in calling for the session. “I don’t like this one bit.”
The reprimand followed a close-call fire on July 25 at a large 75-by-100-foot truck garage on Walnut Avenue, which was completely destroyed while threatening neighboring homes in the thickly settled residential neighborhood. “There’s something really wrong when we escape by the skin of our teeth, and that’s how the men felt,” Selectman William Butters noted. Chief Barry acknowledged that when firefighters arrived at the scene, the first hydrant was completely dry, the second lacked sufficient water pressure, and a third broke at the neck as crews attempted to hook up hoses. Consequently, firefighters were forced to deploy 3,000 feet of hose to reach working hydrants several blocks away.
While Chief Barry and Public Works Director Wollenhaupt initially suggested that routine hydrant maintenance fell under highway department duties, Town Manager John Carroll and Selectman Dempsey firmly countered that the responsibility rests squarely with the Fire Department. Dempsey pointed out that selectmen established a formal written policy in 1980 delegating inspection duties to the firefighters. Town Manager Carroll added that the department began testing hydrants in 1982 with instructions to flag necessary repairs to the highway department, though inspections lapsed. Superintendent Wollenhaupt noted that Norwood boasts approximately 880 public fire hydrants citywide; during the 1982 testing initiative, 8 percent were found completely inoperative, and nearly a quarter of the 174 tested hydrants exhibited functional defects. (Reporting by Katy Corneel for The Patriot Ledger).
Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger
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