![]() DWSD makes fire hydrant maintenance a priority, much like we do water main breaks that place our residents and businesses temporarily without water service. This process happens annually due to inspections and cold weather, when the number of hydrants in need of repair increases. “It is misleading to the public to not include these facts in news stories. For more than six years, DWSD has performed the winter repairs and by spring/summer less than 2% of the hydrants are inoperable. “DWSD starts with priority one repairs which are in critical areas such as near hospitals, nursing homes and schools, as well as clusters of hydrants in need of repair to make sure there is a working hydrant available for emergencies. At this time last year, approximately 7% of our hydrants were in need of repair and by summer it was down to less than 2%. Numbers change daily but what we know is that 96% of our nearly 30,000 hydrants are operational today, still giving Detroiters a greater density of hydrants than other midwestern city. This is a process that allows us to know where a non-functioning hydrant may be located so it can be repaired BEFORE it is needed by firefighters. “It is normal for us to see a slight increase in the number of hydrants that need repair - many of which are still operational - after DFD conducts its winter inspections. Firefighters are able to see available hydrants using a mobile-friendly dashboard. Therefore, if a hydrant is out of service for repair, they can quickly hook up to the next available hydrant. Our counterparts have fire hydrants 500-feet apart, while in Detroit hydrants are 300-feet apart. Detroit has more density of fire hydrants than any other major Midwest city. “The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) maintains fire hydrants while the Detroit Fire Department (DFD) inspects the hydrants annually and uses them for fire suppression. Read: Detroit dedicates $7M to fix broken fire hydrants across the cityīrown and Charles Simms, Interim Executive Fire Commissioner of the Detroit Fire Department, issued the following joint statement: The water is coming out in the street for four days - that is not a priority?” Karen Drew was willing to do an on-camera interview if they changed their minds, but officials only provided a statement. I just don’t understand how it can be broken. Karen Drew asked, “But this is in an area with residents. The city said the hydrant was in their work order system, and they were fixing around 80 each day. A hydrant off Rosa Parks Boulevard was running for days, according to a source. Some of those fire hydrants are pouring water into the streets. As of Wednesday, more than 600 fire hydrants are still listed as inoperable. ![]() Brown said that the city had a goal of fixing all of the broken fire hydrants in 30 days.Īn insider within the fire department shared a record with Local 4 that showed which hydrants were still broken. One month ago, Local 4 spoke to Gary Brown, the Director of Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD), which is in charge of maintaining hydrants. Local 4 found out that around 1,300 were broken and residents were upset. This story began when a firefighter reached out to Local 4 and reported that broken fire hydrants in Detroit were a big issue. Read: How 1K broken fire hydrants across Detroit could be putting your home, business at risk However, after the Local 4 story aired, Karen Drew was told that officials didn’t like the way the story turned out and would not work with Local 4 in getting video of crews fixing the broken hydrants. At first, the city said Local 4 could follow the crews out and show them making repairs. The city approved a $7 million contract to repair hydrants and pay for crews to do the work. DETROIT – Detroit city leaders promised to fix 1,300 broken fire hydrants within a month after a Local 4 investigation revealed the extent of the problem.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |