Century-long Commitment of Supporting Firefighters

Brutal cold temperatures have gripped the area for weeks and you can bet many people are turning up the thermostat, using space heaters more frequently, and cozying up by the fireplace. Those factors can spark an increase in fires meaning winter is often a busy season for local fire departments. However, Louisville Water works year-round to maintain more than 25,000 fire hydrants in our area.

“St. Matthews Fire & EMS has always had a great relationship with Louisville Water Company because water is integral to our mission,” shared Major Greg Crabb with St. Matthews Fire & EMS. “Because of this working relationship, we rarely have to think about where we are going to get water to fight fires.”

And there’s a good reason local firefighters rarely worry about water supply; Louisville Water’s hydrant maintenance program and our abundant water source.

“We have the luxury of the Ohio River which doesn’t go dry,” said Operations Supervisor Harold Hunt in reference to the roughly 75 billion gallons that flow by us every day. “We just take a small sip of that. We use roughly 129 million gallons a day. We also have a very robust and gridded network of pipes.”

Hunt once managed Louisville Water’s hydrant crews for many years.

“We have the hydrant servicers who go out and check our fire hydrants, make sure they’re operable. They check the flow to make sure they’ve got good flow. Any issues that they find, they report them to our hydrant maintenance group which will go over and fix the issues. We can correct probably 90% of an issue with any hydrant without having to dig the hydrant up,” he explained.

On Tuesday morning, Meeks and Plumber Leader Scott Corbin drove to the Park Hill neighborhood following a request from Louisville Fire.

“They emailed that there was a fire, and they used it nearby. So, we’ll check it and make sure there’s no leaks after the fire,” Meeks said.

Corbin added, “We do preventive maintenance every single day. We try to stay ahead of the game. We go in and replace all the O-rings, break down the hydrant and make sure there’s not any leaks. The O-ring is a rubber ring like a wedding ring that a lot of times holds the water from coming into certain areas of the hydrant so that the top doesn’t freeze. It’s like a seal.”

You may be surprised to learn that fire hydrants consist of dozens of parts, and Meeks and Corbin know what each one does and where it goes. Part of their job involves working with firefighters to ensure they know how to properly use the hydrants as well as keeping the line of communication flowing with fire departments to report any hydrant issues.

Corbin said they count on the fire departments to let them know, “if something’s wrong with it (hydrant) that we don’t know about because we have over 25,000. We’re just one truck. They respond to a fire, and they find out that they don’t have the right pressure, that it’s hard to turn, that something’s leaking. Something’s unhappy with it.”

Having that open dialogue sets up everyone for success.

“We take water supply seriously and help Louisville Water maintain their hydrants in our district,” Major Crabb said. “We flow test each hydrant annually to ensure it has adequate pressure and works correctly. We also do a service test of each hydrant annually, lubricate threads, and report any issues to the Louisville Water hydrant team which is great and quickly fixes problems.”

One of the biggest problems we encounter is people who hit hydrants and don’t report them.

“It’s open season on fire hydrants.” Hunt said, “Since COVID, we’ve seen a dramatic uptick in hydrants being hit. We’re not really sure why.”

One recent incident could’ve had a different outcome.

“Someone hit three hydrants and they propped ‘em back up. Three in a row. So that wasted a lot of time (for firefighters),” Meeks said.

When you’re looking at the scenes from the recent California wildfires, it’s clear to see how quickly flames spread. Every second counts when firefighters are trying to save homes and lives.

“If the fire department thinks it’s active and they rely on it, they may start taking out all their equipment to hook up to it. They touch it and it falls over. It just delays everything. At least if they can see it’s broken, they can immediately move on to the next hydrant,” explained Meeks.

Aside from routine maintenance, repairs, and hit hydrants, Louisville Water’s hydrant program includes winterization to protect against the freezing temperatures. Providing water for the fire department is one of the reasons Louisville Water was founded, and our commitment stands strong today.

“We make sure that they have all the support that they need,” Hunt said. We go as far above and beyond as we can to make sure that when they go to a fire where they need a hydrant for any reason that it’s available and it’s up and it’s running.”

*Report a leaking or broken hydrant by messaging Louisville Water or calling (502) 583-6610.