On March 25, at a joint meeting, the Pagosa Springs Town Council and Archuleta County Board of County Commission (BoCC) discussed the testing of area fire hydrants.
Most of the fire hydrants in the Pagosa Springs area belong to Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD), with PAWSD District Manager Justin Ramsey saying that PAWSD is responsible for about 1,140 hydrants.
PAWSD had discussed at its March 13 board meeting a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office’s (ACSO’s) Office of Emergency Management regarding the testing of fire hydrants.
A story about that meeting appeared in the March 20 issue of The SUN.
However, at the joint meeting, Archuleta County Sheriff Mike Le Roux explained that “at no point in the discussion that we had [with PAWSD]” was there any indication about the sherriff’s office “taking a lead role” in testing the hydrants.
“I certainly will not be signing an MOU, and I will not be taking the lead role in testing any hydrants or taking jurisdictional authority, which belongs to PAWSD,” he said, adding, “I just wanted to clear up some of the misunderstandings in the article published that the sheriff’s office would be available for testing hydrants.”
He then clarified what was discussed.
“What we did talk about is a testing protocol. Certainly our staff and personnel” would be available, he explained, but added that “typically wildland firefighters don’t use fire hydrants.”
Pagosa Springs Mayor Shari Pierce said that she wanted Ramsey to “clarify what we are doing with our hydrants because this is a big, big concern for our community members, for our insurance and the upcoming fire season.”
Ramsey recommended hiring a third party to test the hydrants, saying it would “take years” for PAWSD to test all 1,140 hydrants spanning over 70 square miles.
He explained that this ultimately would be a PAWSD board decision to hire a third-party contractor, but either way the testing cannot start until freezing temperatures pass.
Pierce responded, “I’m gonna say ‘years’ is not a good answer … I’ve gone through a house fire. This is important.”
Commissioner Warren Brown asked if the testing could be done by a combination of a third-party contractor and another entity “so, potentially, we could cover a lot more hydrants in a shorter period of time?”
Ramsey responded, “Possibly.”
Commissioner John Ranson asked Ramsey, “Is it your understanding that this is PAWSD’s responsibility? Who owns the hydrants?”
Ramsey answered that PAWSD owns the hydrants, with Ranson responding, “Then whose responsibility is it?”
He added, “This is a very serious matter and you’re saying you don’t know the costs … I don’t care what number it is, if we don’t, as leaders of this community, with levers that we have, and after watching LA … we should have something farther along than we do right now,” Ranson said. “I don’t want to hear about the costs. I don’t want to hear who’s responsibility it is, because it has to be done, starting with you guys. I’m getting more calls on this than anything. People are frightened out there, and for good reason.”
He asked, “So, these haven’t been tested in 10 years?”
Ramsey replied that he did not know when the hydrants were last tested, but agreed that it had probably been about 10 years ago or more.
He explained that PAWSD is moving forward with a plan to get the hydrants tested, but added that “we can’t start right now,” because of the threat of freezing temperatures.
“I understand that, but I don’t want to hear that six weeks from now,” Ranson replied.
Commissioner Veronica Medina added, “I’m glad to hear you at least have a plan to make a plan, because when we talked last time there was no plan to even make a plan.”
Brown said that “in the potential shortfall to be able to test all these hydrants, I’m hoping there’s a plan that when there is a fire call, that the fire department shows up with a tanker, so they are anticipating, whether they know or not if a hydrant’s been tested, they’re showing up as if they believe that it’s not functioning.”
He noted that it would be better for the fire department to be “overcautious … in the event that we haven’t tested” all the hydrants and asked Ramsey if he had discussed such a plan with the fire district.
Ramsey replied that he had not had that type of discussion.
Le Roux chimed in to say, “what I can tell you” is that water trucks from the Archuleta County Road and Bridge Department are always on standby and can respond to fire situations.
Le Roux said that the ACSO “will always say yes to assist when we can, and I would not for one second say that we’re not gonna be part of this testing in some way shape or form … but we are just one of multiple agencies fighting fire.”
Pierce suggested that she wants Ramsey to come back before the council and the BoCC at another joint meeting on April 14 at Town Hall to report back on what is discussed at the next PAWSD meeting on April 10.
She also suggested having representatives from the fire district attend that meeting.
“This is one of, if not the most important issue right now for our community, given our tinderbox conditions,” she said.
Ranson concluded by saying that he hopes PAWSD “would take the lead on this,” agreeing that it was “the most important issue we are looking at because of the weather.”
derek@pagosasun.com
