More than 200 fire hydrants out of service in Toronto
Posted April 7, 2014 6:32 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The harsh winter has taken a toll on Toronto’s fire hydrants with more than 200 out of service.
Paul Clements, manager of operations with Toronto Water, said 242 hydrants are currently out of service due to a mix of reasons including frozen pipes, construction and maintenance repairs.
“A typical winter for us from the beginning of January until now we experience usually about 300 broken watermains. This year we’ve had over a thousand,” he explained.
Clements says extreme weather conditions like this have not been seen in this city since 1994, which is why there is a repair backlog.
He said hydrants are fixed by priority with those in front of schools, hospitals, daycares and nursing homes given priority over others.
Clement said a frozen fire hydrant can be thawed in a few hours but if the hydrant repair requires them to excavate, it takes a little bit longer.
Since January 1900 hydrants have been inspected.
City and fire department officials insist it’s not impacting public safety.
There are 50,000 hydrants across the city. Toronto fire crews are notified by Toronto Water long before they roll up on the scene of a fire which hydrants are operable and which are not.
With files from Charlene Close
