PLUM, Pa. — 11 Investigates is learning about some major hurdles firefighters encountered in getting enough water to the fiery scene during last Saturday’s deadly house explosion in Plum.
- LATEST UPDATES: 6 people dead, including child, after massive explosion in Plum
- PHOTOS: House leveled in explosion in Plum Borough; several other homes damaged
Channel 11 poured through an hour-and-a-half of chaotic calls between police, fire and emergency services after multiple sources reached out about the failure of a fire hydrant at the top of the hill in Rustic Ridge.
In those radio calls, you can hear crews on the scene frantically asking for water.
“We’re good on manpower,” one department radios. “We have no water supply. Repeating, no water supply.”
In another call, crews were asking when tankers of water are expected to arrive.
“I’m totally out of water, Penn Hills is totally out of water, supposed to be waiting for water relay to start,” crews said.
On scene the day of the tragic explosion, Holiday Park Fire Chief James Sims said crews quickly pivoted.
“We made corrective action, we requested tankers from neighboring departments,” Chief Sims told reporters. “We’ve been running tanker shuttles to supply water for the upper side of the buildings.”
We asked Plum Borough if the hydrants in Rustic Ridge worked. They sent Channel 11 the following statement:
“Municipal authority of Plum manager Howard Theis stated all Plum borough Fire Hydrants are routinely inspected. The Rustic Ridge plan had all fire hydrants working prior to Saturday’s incident. And as soon as the emergency was reported early Saturday, Westmoreland Water was in direct communication with the Plum municipal authority to ensure water supply was adequate.”
We asked Plum Borough if the hydrants worked the day of the explosion, but they have not replied to our email.
Curt Floyd is a former firefighter. He now works for the National Fire Protection Association. He tells Channel 11 all fire hydrants need to be inspected annually. Floyd says records are kept for each individual fire hydrant. He says local water companies usually test the flow, but even so, sometimes hydrants fail. One reason:
“Over time there is sediment such as rust or debris can get into the barrels,” Floyd said. “And clog up the system or affect the mechanism so that when you try to turn the hydrant on it may or may not work.”
The first responders we talked to want to mention, the outcome likely would not have been any different in this tragic case other than possibly limiting some fire damage to neighboring homes which were exposed to extreme heat from the fire. Crews say it’s important for first responders to know what hydrants do and don’t work for potential future emergencies.
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
TRENDING NOW:
©2023 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/XCUXZC2XYZHCRGNNGKFEX6U3LQ.png)
