By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle
It’s something most people walk or drive by every day without giving it a second thought, but in rural B.C. the common fire hydrant is almost a luxury item.
Anarchist Mountain Fire Department can tick that box as they now boast the mountain’s very first fire hydrant. Taking pride of place beside the AMFD’s firehall, the hydrant also sports a brand new coat of – wait for it – ‘fire engine red’ paint, courtesy of two of the community’s younger members Evelyn and Lily.
Anarchist Mountain Fire Department (AMFD) photo
The key driver behind the project is Steve McNally who is the fire department’s training officer and as he notes, “It’s just something that every fire department should have. We needed to have a fire hydrant, it’s better for access,” he said.
The previous setup, McNally said, was just a line that went inside the hall and then came out through the side of the building. During winter it would be buried in snow which made access difficult.
“I ended up chatting with some folks in Oliver and they were nice enough to donate one of their decommissioned fire hydrants.
“We just put all the pieces together and lined up a bunch of people to come and help out and we had a bunch of the community that just helped out and we put the fire hydrant in,” he said.
Anarchist Mountain Fire Department (AMFD) photo
Being gifted a ‘pre-loved’ hydrant was the tipping point in this, given that a new hydrant costs in the neighbourhood of $5,000, McNally said. The total cost came in at around $1,000 for pipes, fittings, gaskets, etc. and took around 60 man-hours spread over the course of a week to complete.
This included digging, gravel filling, making forms, concrete mixing, installation, backfilling and painting.
“The fire hydrant is just south of the hall about 10 feet [three metres] off the side of the firehall right beside the driveway so we have easy access to hook up to it and the fire hydrant flow is about 330 gallons [1,200 litres] a minute . . . it was really good,” he added.
This translates to only eight minutes to fill up the 11,365 litre capacity tender, something that used to take 12 minutes. “Minutes can make the difference in saving a house or property,” McNally said.
The hydrant receives water from a 122,745 litre cistern buried just up the hill beside the firehall.
“Not only do our fire trucks and tenders get faster fill-ups of water, but our members also get to train with a hydrant in case we are needed for mutual aid elsewhere.”
When asked if this is the beginning of something bigger, McNally replied that there is an opportunity to put another one at a local pond that they could draw water out of, but at this point, they don’t have another hydrant.
Anarchist Mountain Fire Department (AMFD) photo
McNally offered his gratitude for all the support from the community and to Oliver for the donation of the hydrant.
McNally also wanted to thank the working crew: Gerry Moran and Rudy Reimer for their technical skills, and Joe Simoes and Ed Williams for excavation. “Last, but not least…the finishing touch crew – Lily and Evelyn for their incredible painting skills,” he added.
