An unusually dry winter in Pagosa County, paired with wildfire disasters occurring in California recently, have many concerned about this upcoming summer with local governments, service and protection districts discussing plans and how to take steps to prepare for a potential fire event.
The Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) met with Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD) Manager Justin Ramsey during a work session on Tuesday, Feb. 25, to discuss the status of fire hydrants throughout the community, mainly located within Pagosa Lakes Property Owners Association (PLPOA) boundaries.
The topic stemmed from a joint work session between the BoCC and PLPOA board last month on Jan. 30 at which commissioner John Ranson inquired about when the hydrants were last serviced.
Ranson updated the BoCC on the matter during a BoCC work session on Feb. 14, noting he had spoken with representatives of the Pagosa Fire Protection District (PFPD) and PAWSD, finding that neither entity knew whose responsibility it was to service fire hydrants.
“Just seems like there’s real confusion,” he said.
During the same work session, commissioner Warren Brown also expressed concern over the matter, stating, “It’s ridiculous that we’re even having to have this conversation.”
He added, “Because I don’t think we can afford not to have this conversation, because frankly I don’t give a damn whose responsibility it is. It won’t make a bit of a difference when we have burned to the ground.”
Ramsey met with the BoCC during a work session on Tuesday, Feb. 25, with PFPD Chief Robert Bertram also joining.
After providing a brief background of PAWSD’s service area and its water diversions, the discussion moved on to the topic of fire hydrants in the community and when, or if, they have been serviced.
Ramsey noted there are approximately 1,240 fire hydrants within PAWSD boundaries.
“I guess there was an agreement with the fire [district] to … test the fire hydrants,” Ramsey said, explaining that was before he began working with PAWSD, noting that for a “variety of reasons” that agreement went away.
“We do not test the hydrants regularly,” Ramsey said.
He explained that PAWSD currently only exercises a fire hydrant when a new development goes in.
“But, that’s really about it, so there’s probably a lot of hydrants that haven’t been exercised in a decade or more, which could be problematic,” he added.
Ramsey noted later in the meeting that PAWSD currently tests anywhere between six and 12 hydrants a year, and that they’ve yet to encounter a hydrant that did not work.
Ramsey explained the reason for not being able to test every hydrant is because “it’s a manpower issue,” explaining it takes two people and can be time-consuming.
“Thats really the issue,” he added.
Ramsey mentioned he has been approached by a few homeowners associations about having volunteers trained to go out and test the hydrants themselves.
“Which we’re open to,” he said.
Commissioner Veronica Medina commented that crews could be assembled, potentially using seasonal staff from the districts, to help with accomplishing this task of servicing every fire hydrant.
Medina also questioned who is responsible for maintaining all the documents associated with the status of fire hydrants, with Ramsey explaining PAWSD currently maintains those documents.
“We definitely keep track of all that,” Ramsey added.
Medina then asked if PAWSD has a plan to start exercising fire hydrants.
“At this time it does not,” Ramsey replied, with Medina asking if PAWSD will develop a plan.
Ramsey explained that PAWSD is willing to work with other entities to accomplish this, but there is currently “no plan to make a plan.”
Medina then commented that unless the community comes forward, “PAWSD simply isn’t going to do anything?”
Ramsey explained that PAWSD does not guarantee fire flows, as its system was not designed to ensure those.
Brown commented that some hydrants may just be “a false sense of security,” with community members potentially unaware of their nearest hydrant being functional or not in the event of a fire.
Ramsey explained that each functional hydrant should have a flag attached indicating the level of water flow present.
Bertram confirmed that “something happened,” leading to the PFPD not being allowed to service the hydrants.
He noted it’s important for the PFPD to know which hydrants work and what kind of flow rate it will produce.
Medina mentioned that a more “sophisticated” plan to address the fire hydrants may be required so that the PFPD knows what kind of flow rate is present at each location, rather than just seeing if the hydrant works or not.
Brown commented that there needs to be some “urgency” addressing the situation, recommending the county have some sort of representation with a group dedicated to developing a plan to exercise the hydrants.
“I just think that we really need to tabletop this and get something in plan for this fire season,” he said.
County Manager Jack Harper indicated that he would coordinate with PAWSD, the PFPD and other entities to “start talking.”
Ranson agreed with Brown’s statements, adding, “I think we got to get on this ASAP. It makes no sense to me to hear we don’t have the manpower … it’s crazy to me.”
Ranson also mentioned that it seems to be a “huge liability” if something were to happen.
“We’re talking lives here,” he said.
clayton@pagosasun.com
