Pagosa Fire Protection District (PFPD) Chief Robert Bertram reported significant progress on resolving the hydrant issues that were a major concern in 2025 during the PFPD’s May 4 meeting.
Bertram explained the Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD) brought back the contractor DSR, who had previously tested the hydrants, to perform repairs.
Bertram noted that one goal was making sure all parties were communicating effectively and on the same page.
Working with PAWSD and DSR, Bertram explained the district oversaw the replacement or major repair of 37 hydrants over the past two weeks, bringing nearly all the previously out-of-service hydrants back online.
“They did invest a lot of money. All the ones that were out of service are back online now, which is great,” he shared. “Even a couple that I found that they didn’t find in their report last year when they did this stuff.”
Three additional hydrants are awaiting parts and one more will be fully replaced, Bertram added, though it can currently provide water, but is difficult to shut down. DSR will return to verify flows, while the district will supplement with its own targeted testing to minimize water use given current restrictions.
Overall, Bertram explained approximately 1,300 hydrants are now being managed under the improved communication and accountability process with PAWSD, marking a full-circle shift from the responsibility and reliability concerns raised last year.
DSR will be back to do flows on the hydrants, Bertram added, meaning they will open the hydrants up to make sure they can get water out.
“If you take roughly 1,300 hydrants at about 5,000 gallons each, that’s a lot of water,” Bertram told the board. “So, making sure it flows out of there, we’re becoming a lot more proactive in doing some of our testing when these new projects come up. So, I’m pretty comfortable with not actually having all the numbers on there, even though it’d be nice to be able to look at it. But, realistically, what we need to know is, are we gonna get water out of it or not?”
Whether the hydrants flow at 1,000 or 2,000 gallons a minute doesn’t change how the engines are hooked up, he explained.
“The good news is we now have better communication with the water provider so we can report hydrant issues quickly and get clear feedback when they’re fixed,” Bertram added.
The airport hydrants have also been flow tested, Bertram told the board, prompting a reevaluation of whether some of the long-standing demands for additional water infrastructure there are still necessary.
“We’re actually getting some pretty decent fire flows out of those hydrants, so I’ve got a meeting with the county manager on Friday, and we’re going to start those conversations and look into stuff at the airport,” he said. “Fortunately, I think some of the stuff we’ve been fighting for for a while probably doesn’t need to be, so I’m evaluating whether we have sufficient water.”
Board member James Martin shared a concern about liability, noting that because those structures were occupied, the insurance company will have the ability to dismiss the issue and avoid responsibility.
“I think what’s more important from the county standpoint, you guys do get an understanding between the two of you that until you sign off on a structure out there, that they shouldn’t be allowing occupants,” he said.
Bertram noted the goal is to ensure that no airport structures are occupied before the fire district signs off, which would reduce liability concerns for both the county and property owners while aligning water-supply expectations with updated field data.
Civilian safety
In his report, Bertram also shared new national data showing that structure fires and civilian injuries are down, but civilian fire deaths are up sharply.
“There’s a big change in culture coming in the fire service right now,” he said. “For many years, we’ve really gone very safety conscious in everything we’re doing, even into our live burns, where it’s not even realistic when we’re going in there, and they’re figuring out that that’s really become detrimental to the fire service.”
Bertram explained less-demanding training burns and simulations can leave firefighters unprepared for truly harsh conditions. As a result, some firefighters back out of structures earlier or hesitate to push in for searches under tough conditions.
In response to this shift, Bertram continued, the district is reshaping its training to be more realistic and demanding. It will emphasize rapid turnout, aggressive search and rescue under difficult conditions and clear time standards for getting inside structures, with the goal of protecting civilians while still managing firefighter risk and legal liability.
The PFPD is overhauling its training program in response to rising civilian fire deaths across the country, Bertram noted, and is also moving away from overly controlled scenarios toward more realistic drills that mirror actual fire conditions.
The training will shift from “extreme caution first” toward a more balanced approach that still values firefighter safety but puts greater weight on rapid rescue and decisive operations when lives may be at risk, Bertram shared.
“We’re working to start setting some of those time matrices and really see how it is, just making sure that we’re doing our part,” he said. “It ultimately comes down to not being complacent, being ready when we get that call, not going out there thinking, ‘Oh, this is another false alarm.’ Be ready for the worst case when we get there and you’ll be good. You’ll keep moving forward with it.”
eslade@orourkemediagroup.com
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