Syracuse, NY – Fire departments in Onondaga and Madison counties are bracing for the possibility that the local water system could dry up this weekend, officials said.
The system, operated by the Onondaga County Water Authority, delivers water to residents, businesses and fire hydrants. A major water main break caused water shortages in six towns in eastern Onondaga County and western Madison County.
Some Onondaga County fire chiefs met Tuesday afternoon to discuss water issues. They said the county is analyzing which fire hydrants have the best water pressure and which may not be usable.
Dan Wears, Onondaga County emergency management commissioner, said he supports fire departments relying on portable water tankers when water is needed.
The use of tanker trucks to fight fires is common in rural parts of the county where hydrants are not installed.
“We’re just encouraging them to take the same plans from the more rural areas of their district and use them in the more suburban parts of their district,” he said at a news conference Tuesday.
Wears said he also encourages fire departments to activate more tankers earlier when responding to a fire.
“If traditionally they could handle what they believe to be four tankers in a rotation,” he said, “then they can add five, six, seven, eight — depending on what it is — so that they start working on those resources earlier to have water available on site.”
The water problems were caused by the rupture of a massive concrete pipe last weekend in Cicero. That pipe typically delivers millions of gallons of water each day to 27,000 customer accounts in the cities of DeWitt, Manlius, Pompey, Sullivan, Lenox and Lincoln.
Officials have issued mandatory conservation notices telling customers to limit non-essential water use.
The areas most at risk of water loss are the southern part of the village of Manlius, the northern part of the city of Pompey and parts of the village of Fayetteville. But users throughout the six-city area should still conserve water, officials said, to avoid further water shortages.
Paul Hildreth, Fayetteville Fire Chief, said his coverage area has 493 fire hydrants. As of Tuesday afternoon, he said he was still waiting on the county’s emergency management department to determine which fire hoses they should use.
Hildreth said the department’s tankers should be enough to put out the house fire.
“We have another tanker that we use on all reported fires, so we’re in pretty good shape,” he said.
Hildreth said the department, which serves the village of Fayetteville and parts of the city of Manlius, has eight people on duty around the clock. Hildreth ordered a portable toilet and shower so firefighters could continue working at the fire station.
East Syracuse Fire Chief Paul Haynes said the department is keeping a water tanker on standby.
Haynes said if more water is needed, firefighters may have to travel farther than usual to refill the tanker.
Madison County is taking similar measures as Onondaga County, officials there said.
The county also has tanker units and emergency response teams from fire departments outside the affected areas that could be deployed if needed. These responses are organized by regional fire coordinators.
In the past day or so, OCWA has been working with the City of Oneida to ensure a more stable water supply to the villages of Canastota and Chittenango.
Lyle Chafee, chief of Canastota’s volunteer department, said he was warned by county emergency management officials not to use fire hydrants unless absolutely necessary.
Instead, Chafee said, three nearby fire departments — Lincoln, Wampsville and North Bay — are ready to bring water tankers to the village if there is an active fire. Canastota also has its own water tank.
For now, Chafee said, he doesn’t want to tap into the village’s fire hydrants at all because he doesn’t want to risk finding one that doesn’t have enough water.
According to him, the arrival of additional tankers should be enough for one house fire. Anything more than that at once can be a problem.
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