Fire Hydrant Repaired on North Goode Road

UNTIL JUST TUESDAY APRIL 17 -
Evidently the residents and businesses along North Goode Road have had virtually no Fire protection since at least last October, according to Wilmer Water Superintendent Mike McVea, although the document received on April 9 from the City is clearly dated 4/5/2011. Click Here to View the List of Out of Service Fire Hydrants.

A leak on former mayor Don Hudson's property the last week in March prompted an inspection of the water service along both sides of North Goode Road. Only two fire hydrants exist, about half a mile apart - BOTH fire hydrants were covered in black plastic, "out of service". As of Tuesday, April 17, the fire hydrant next to the old "Red Dog Saloon" across from Hudson's property was repaired. The hydrant south of the creek bridge near Cottonwood Valley and Richmond continues to be "out of service".

According to Fire Chief Marcus Smith, he had been informed that a number of fire hydrants were "out of service". Water Superintendent McVea confirmed that he "bagged" the inoperable hydrants when he joined the City last October and forwarded a list of their locations to the Fire Department. Chief Smith also stated that the City Fire Truck carries 1000 feet of hose and the City can assemble up to 3500 feet of hose with outside assistance from other fire fighting companies. We requested and received a copy of the memo detailing the locations of the out of service fire hydrants.

While no definite repair schedule could be determined, Water Superintendent McVea promptly returned our calls to ascertain the details of the "out of service" hydrants the first week in April. He stated that a number of hydrants were out of service in various locations and that at least one was scheduled to be repaired in the next week, although he did not have that location at the time he spoke with this reporter. Upon visiting and inspecting each location on April 15, it appears all of the hydrants have NOW been repaired EXCEPT the one on North Goode Road South of the bridge and one hydrant at Millers Ferry & Patrick Pike that is partially uncovered and could be functional. There are additional fire hydrants at acceptable intervals along Millers Ferry, however, given the proximity to GWG Wood Group, lack of a fully functional fire hydrant in that location presents a health and safety risk issue.

The problem for the residences and businesses along North Goode Road is that the nearest fire hydrants are in Wilmer Heights on Richmond and in Sunridge Business Park on Distribution Drive. Both locations are far in excess of the 1000 feet of firehose available on the City's Firetruck.

With the newly repaired hydrant on North Goode, most residents and existing businesses can now be serviced (except for those three houses immediately adjacent to the creek and along Cottonwood Valley).
Hopefully, the progress on providing fire protection to all Wilmer residents will continue.