'We were speechless': Halifax community learns fire hydrants non-functional

Residents of Upper Hammonds Plains, N.S., have learned their fire hydrants are practically useless.

“All should have fire protection,” said Lennett Anderson, pastor at Emmanuel Baptist Church (EBC). “Residents were informed that the fire hydrants in our community cannot be used for fire suppression, and they are only there for training purposes or to flush the main water line. We were speechless.”

The revelation came during a meeting Monday night, for which representatives from Halifax Fire and Halifax Water were present. It was disclosed installed pipes are six and eight-inch, with the six-inch section operating off a booster pump, insufficient to provide the pressure needed to effectively fight fires.

“They put what they put in and as small as they make them and turns out to be fake hydrants,” said Gina Jones-Wilson, president of the Upper Hammonds Plains Community Development Association.

In a statement to CTV News, Halifax Water confirmed the water distribution system was installed in the late 1990s.

“Based on its current design configuration and the limited amount of pressure that can be managed through the existing water system, these hydrants can only supply a limited amount of pressure that can be managed through the existing water system, these hydrants can only supply a limited amount of water for firefighting. However, they do not meet the standards required for continuous fire suppression,” the said.

The city’s utility company said it is reviewing the system pressures and available flows and identifying areas to improve overall conditions.

Last year people in the area had to evacuate their homes due to the wildfires.

“During the meeting they said that they now know that the fire was so close to Anderson Road in our community. Westwood the subdivision is in our backyards. We are neighbours. This entire community was devastated,” said Anderson.

Anderson said the community was told the pipes were intentionally made smaller because the community wanted to lower the cost of the foot frontage, and they agreed to a lower price and were aware they would be getting smaller pipes.

“Absurd. This is the first we ever heard that the pipes would be reduced for the Black community. Halifax Water, the commission, it’s their responsibility to ensure that every hydrant is properly maintained for pressure and for fire suppression,” Anderson said. “It’s completely unacceptable.”

People in the community said if another wildfire were to happen again, they don’t believe the neighbourhood would stand a chance.

“That big of a fire without any kind of fire suppression along with hydrants, I don’t think they would’ve been able to save anything,” said Jones-Wilson.

Jones-Wilson said roughly six weeks after the wildfire, there was a garage fire, and crews struggled to access a hydrant.

“Some of the firefighters are new so they didn’t know about the not being able to use the hydrant at the fire hall, so they hooked up to that. The fire’s burning and they’re waiting for water and no water’s coming. So they had to run their hoses all the way down to the community centre, at the same there’s fire so they lost time,” she said.

The community, which spans several kilometers, has only three fire hydrants. One is at the EBC, the second is in front of the Upper Hammonds Plains Community Centre, and the last one is in front of the community’s former fire hall. Neighbouring areas just five blocks away have fully operational hydrants spaced every 500 meters.

“We had to fight and get water in our community where they were using the lake to pump water to Halifax residents. We had to fight for 20 years to get water to our homes, here we are 25 years later finding out the fire hydrants they put in and the water lines are smaller than our neighbouring community,” said Jones-Wilson.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, area councillor Pam Lovelace proposed a motion to extend the water service boundary in Hammonds Plains to ensure the right-sized water main is used in the future. The motion was passed, which means city staff will write a report to include consideration for municipal water service extension along Pockwock road, where the city will have coordinate with Halifax Water to create a community action plan.

They will also have to consider enabling a closed loop water system and installation of fire hydrants from Voyageur Way to St George Boulevard, and declassifying all “in-camera” documents related to costs and install the water main on Pockwock Road.

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