Water accessibility proves crucial for fire departments in Butler County
When it comes to structure fires, access to a water source can mean the difference between a partial loss or destruction.
Water accessibility is crucial, according to Scott Frederick, director of emergency services in Butler Township, who said about 80% of the township has access to fire hydrants.
“We are pretty fortunate,” Frederick said with regard to hydrant accessibility. “There are a few areas that don’t have hydrants, but I believe there are plans in the coming years to add more.”
Departments covering rural areas such as Herman and West Sunbury often don’t have access to fire hydrants and instead use other methods to access water.
Those methods involve using tanker shuttles, which pull water from nearby ponds, lakes or other easily accessible sources.
“We do have hydrants in Summit Township,” said Rob Shuler, chief of the Herman Volunteer Fire Company. “Probably about 30% of Summit Township has hydrants now. Clearfield Township — we have no hydrants. It’s all a tanker shuttle.”
Tanker shuttles can pull water from either a hydrant or another water source, but this method is mostly used by rural firefighters to pull from a pond or lake.
Shuler said when the firefighters who are first on the scene of a fire determine they need more water and crew, they call for other departments to assist and to bring a portable tank.
“If we need the extra help, I will have a portable tank set up at the end of the driveway and the engine will draft out that tank and pump water to the engine at the fire,” Shuler said. “The tankers come in and dump water into that portable tank and go get more water.”
Depending on the severity of the fire, tankers could refill the portable tank multiple times, West Sunbury Volunteer Fire Department chief Justin O’Hara said.
“A tanker will come in, they will go to the water source, and we fill them up. It’s a constant loop,” O’Hara said. “That’s why you see so many tankers and fire departments at structure fires in rural areas. It's not necessarily for the manpower, although that is a big help. It's more so for the water movement getting water from a pond or a larger creek.”
Shuler said the tanker he has in Herman holds up to 3,000 gallons of water.
All situations are different, Shuler said, but generally a fully involved structure fire at a regular-sized house could require tankers to refill the portable tank up to eight times.
Finding a water source often is the biggest challenge, Shuler said, but his fire engine has a map book that can tell him and his crew the closest water source to the fire.
“We usually do pretty good because we have everything mapped out,” Shuler said. “Most of us have lived in the area all our lives, so we know where the ponds are at, and we do so much training and we can move a lot of water.”
Chris Switala, chief of the Butler Bureau of Fire, said within the City of Butler, fire hydrants are controlled and maintained by the water company.
“The city actually pays a rental fee each year for hydrants,” Switala said. “The water company is responsible for maintaining them and everything. It costs the city about $70,000 a year for all the fire hydrants in the city.”
When fire department personnel respond to a structure fire, the fire engines carry enough water to make an initial attack, but they soon need a continuous water supply, preferably from a hydrant.
Within the city, it’s important for firefighters to be able to have access to these hydrants.
They may have to spend valuable time searching for and accessing a hydrant when they could be doing other important tasks, which is why there are rules in place for them to have easy access to the hydrants.
“Ideally accessibility should be between 10 and 15 feet on either side of the hydrant,” Frederick said. “It all comes down to the local municipality and what rules they put in place with regards to parking.”
Generally when it comes to all fires and emergencies, time is always something first responders have to worry about, Shuler said, whether that’s finding an easy water source, or simply getting to the situation as fast as possible.
“The biggest advice I can give about having an efficient water supply is call for help sooner than later,” Shuler said. “The sooner you get the water there and the help there, the better off you’re going to be.”
