Amid heightened fire concerns, BWS plans review to install more hydrants
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The Honolulu Board of Water Supply says there’s a need for more fire hydrants on Oahu, particularly in older communities, and confirms it will soon review its master plan to identify infrastructure in need of immediate upgrades.
In the meantime, with the fire season underway, Honolulu firefighters tell HNN Investigates that the department is equipped with other tools for areas where water may not be available.
In places on Oahu where fire hydrants either don’t exist or aren’t readily accessible, HFD says it’s tanker trucks are one of their more valuable pieces of equipment.
“It’s got 1,800 gallons of water,” said Honolulu Fire Battalion Chief Ricardo Yost.
Last year, HFD responded to 475 wildland fires across the island.
HNN Investigates
Officials say historically, the Leeward Coast and Central Oahu have the highest fire risk.
A map published by the Pacific Fire Exchange pinpoints the places wildfires sparked between 1999 and 2018. While several broke out in East Honolulu and Wahiawa, the majority occurred on the west side — between Kapolei and Kaena Point — and mauka in the forest reserves.
“Our goal is always to maintain safety for the community and to make sure the HFD always has access to water when they need it,” said Kathleen Pahinui, BWS public information officer.
“We’re always looking to make sure we have adequate fire protection across the island where our system reaches, and that if there are any changes, that we’re making sure we’re upgrading the system as needed to meet those changes,” she said.
The utility says it recently upgraded the water system in Pauoa to include new fire hydrants. It also completed a fire hydrant project in Kailua a few years ago.
HNN Investigates wanted to know specific communities where more fire hydrants are needed. The utility didn’t provide a list of neighborhoods.
Instead, the utility said in a statement:
“There are older communities throughout Oahu where fire hydrant spacing met prevailing water system standards at the time they were developed but do not meet the current Board of Water Supply fire hydrant spacing requirements.”
Pahinui added, “HFD is our partner and they are very great at telling us if there’s anything they see or that something needs to be fixed.”
HNN asked the utility if it had a plan to install hydrants in communities where current standards aren’t being met. Officials said in some places hydrants will be installed in conjunction with larger projects. The Board of Water Supply says is also set to review it’s 30-year water master plan to identify places more hydrants are needed.
On top of that, Pahinui said, “We’re working with HFD to identify locations across the island, especially up in the mountainous areas, where we put in what we call dip pads.” Or places where helicopters can refill water totes, cutting the distance crews have to fly in a fire emergency.
In the aftermath of the Lahaina disaster, HFD says it’s also reevaluating the way it operates and has now changed the way it responds to all brush fire calls.
“We dispatch two engines and a tanker for every brush fire call,” said Yost. “Originally it was one engine.”
Why does that better equip firefighters?
“It’s like a knockout punch,” Yost said. “We found that having another engine dispatched while the first engine is responding to that location decreases the response time.”
HFD says it also has it’s tanker trucks strategically placed in communities that need them most. Specifically Hauula, Wahiawa, Nanakuli, Waianae and Waipahu.
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