By Chris Hagan
Review Staff Writer
Following a house fire that occurred two weeks ago that resulted in over $750,000 in losses, the fire department and Village of Lake Orion DPW staff pressure-tested fire hydrants throughout Lake Orion’s perimeter.
The pressure testing was prompted because during that fire, which occurred on Sheron St. off Central Dr., emergency crews opened what looked to be a newer hydrant but found it didn’t have any pressure.
So after several days of flushing hydrants and reading gauges following the problem the results were tallied up. They found that every hydrant on Bellevue Island and Central Drive did not meet minimum pressure requirements. Seven hydrants on Heights Road and five hydrants on North Shore Drive also failed to meet pressure requirements.
As a result, those hydrants are now emblazoned with a black cap, letting firefighters know that those hydrants will not support a fire truck during a fire.
‘Until the Village can figure out why there is non-existent pressure we are identifying the hydrants that are not useful so we don’t spend time trying to hook up to them,? Orion Fire Chief Robert Smith said. ‘National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has a standard for identifying hydrants with low pressures or no pressure so we are identifying them. Once the Village and their engineers are able to figure out the cause for low or non-existent pressures and correct the problem, they will go back and repaint them either red or white letting us know they are useful again.?
Results Explained
According to NFPA guidelines and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality requirements, when a fire hydrant is opened it cannot be below 20psi. If it found to be below such a pressure, it must be identified. The fire department chose to paint the large 4-inch cap black.
NFPA guidelines say that a ‘primary concern should be the ability to maintain sufficient residual pressure to prevent developing a negative pressure at any point in the street mains, which could result in the collapse of the mains or other water system components or back-siphonage of polluted water from some other interconnected source.?
In all, 36 fire hydrants were tested and all but two (both on North Shore) failed to put out the necessary pressure and some by a wide margin. Twenty-two hydrants have pressures in the single digits while three have a reading of zero.
North Shore Dr.
Hydrants along North Shore Drive sported the best pressures and had the only two passing fire hydrants throughout the test. The fire hydrant at the corner of W. Flint and North Shore had a pressure between 26-28psi which was also highest of the entire test.
Though one other hydrant passed, the remaining hydrants failed to go above 20psi with the lowest fire hydrant pressure or 15psi
Height Road & Bellevue Island
The Heights Road area was bad but certainly not the worst. The highest pressure reading of the hydrants tested from Snug Harbor to Bellevue was 13psi; those hydrants were found on Algene and Lookout Lane. The hydrants on Heights Rd.gave readings of 5-7psi while areas closer to Bellevue ranged from 9-10 psi. All are now painted black.
The highest fire hydrant pressure recorded on Bellevue Island was 8psi and those pressures were found on the northern end of the island past the bridge and closer to Long Point Dr.
The lowest pressure was 5psi and that was recorded on seven fire hydrants in the area of Detroit, Buena Vista, Crescent and Long Point.
Central Drive
It’s no surprise that given the dismal performance of the fire hydrant two weeks ago, that Central Drive would boast the worst hydrant pressure around Lake Orion. Of the 10 fire hydrants tested on Central Drive and the peninsulas branching off, every hydrant was in the single digits. The fire hydrants on Fairview, Sheron, and by 810 Central all have a reading of 0 psi.
Hydrants on Penninsular, Bridge, and Park Ave have fire hydrant pressures between 3-6psi. All caps have been painted black.
Repairs
According Village Manager Darwin McClary, not only does the village not know what’s causing the pressure issue, but McClary says his administration was never made aware of any village hydrant pressure issue prior to the fire.
‘My administration was not aware of any pressure problems in the system until the Sheron fire,? he said. ‘My administration was first made aware of hydrant issues in some locations last year, and we met with the township fire department this summer to set up a program to inspect and repair hydrants identified by the fire department.?
Throughout the spring and summer, the fire department worked closely with the Village DPW in determining areas where pressures were low, where hydrants were damaged and other areas of concern. It is unknown if the DPW shared those results with village council members prior to the Sheron fire.
The Village’s DPW is investigating areas at the end of the system on Fairview and Sheron and working back to Bellevue, and then on to Heights, as well as working on North Shore. The reason they’re starting on Central is because those areas receive their water from a water main that runs from Bellevue, under the lake to Victoria Island, and then under the lake again to Bridge Street and up to Central.
Though McClary is not convinced that main in particular is the issue for the pressure losses, he says that if it is determined faulty, then directional boring or drilling would probably be necessary to run a new main under the lake. He said he feels that the issue could be coming from an older water main.
‘We are experiencing lower pressures along Heights Road. The Heights Road water main is old and may be calcified, but it is still early in our investigation, and we have not confirmed any cause yet,? McClary said. ‘Once we can isolate an area, we can check gate valves, cut out a portion of main to inspect the condition inside the main, and perform other investigative work to try to identify the problem.?
McClary told Orion Township board members that the billage has $1.7 million in reserve for repairs but depending on the extent of the issue, they’ll probably need more funding.
As a request from trustee Neil Porter, the village will be placing the water main issue on the their agenda for updates every meeting until it’s repaired.
Additionally, the village will be presenting an update to the township at the first meeting of 2016.
According to McClary:
‘The village council and administration approved the completion of a water system reliability study to meet MDEQ requirements in order to identify system deficiencies and prepare a capital improvement plan to upgrade deficient areas of the system. ‘This study is expected to be completed by summer of 2016. ‘A review of village records ‘indicate that the township fire department and village were aware of hydrant problems, including possible flow and pressure problems, as early as 1996. ‘There were meetings held between the township supervisor, fire department, and village administration in the late 1990s, and further discussions and hydrant testing took place in 2005.?
Fire Protection
According to Chief Smith, even though using a fire hydrant is the most immediate and effective means of putting water on the fire, he’s wants to reassure the citizens that the fire department practices alternative water supply options for these types of situations.
Unlike areas similar to the south of Lake Orion, where fire hydrants are plentiful, fire departments north of Auburn Hills must practice water supply methods given the amount of non-hydranted areas and older water systems.
‘We have two alternatives that we will be utilizing. We will automatically call for tankers from our surrounding neighbors and this has been in place for years and is still being utilized in areas of the township where we still don’t have hydrants,? Smith said. ‘Depending on the location to a lake we may be able to draw water from the lake. It’s a process we have used for years.?
Though the department has contingency water source plans, those alternatives use quite a bit of personnel to establish. What one person is able to do when opening and connecting to a fire hydrant, those alternative methods might require five or more firefighters to set up.
‘We train and are proficient in both methods but the hindrance is it takes manpower to set up and is labor intensive,? he said ‘This means we must use extra people to initially set it up and thus not be able to concentrate on an initial aggressive attack on the fire.? Once the water supply is established then we can commit all personnel to the task of extinguishing the fire.?
Smith also emphasized the importance of practicing common fire prevention activities.
Many fires, he said, can be prevented if more people took a proactive step in the world of fire prevention. According to the NFPA, nearly half of all fires in the United States are caused from cooking while heating equipment is a distant second at only 16 percent. He encourages every citizens, and especially those residing in the affected hydrant areas, to be extremely vigilant and safe while cooking. They should replace smoke alarms that are more than 10 years old, and should have several at-home fire extinguishers.
‘We can’t talk about it [fire prevention] enough and just being cognizant of your surroundings, coupled with proper smoke alarms, are some of the simple and cheap ways to stay safe when talking about fire,? Smith said. ‘I encourage any citizen who is concerned about fire safety to contact the fire department and we can set up an at-home fire inspection.?