by Rod Hughes

Those orphan fire hydtrants the have had no legal guardians for the last dozen years, funally got one, the Water and Sewer Institute (A y A), thanks to a vote yesterday in the Legislative Assembly. Delighted firemen blew station sirens in the capital every time one of the 50 lawmakers present voted yes to the bill. And they all did.

The bill was the result of countless incidents in which defective fire hydrants have turned firemen into frustrated spectators at conflagrations. The press made a big fuss after a chemical plant went up in huge pillars of smoke several years ago while firemen were hamped by having to fight it with tank trucks. But the fact is that for 12 years no one has had legal responsibility for maintaining and replacing the hydrants.

In the past, legislators have not been exactly attentive to the problem. This is the third bill on the subject to have been presented in that dozen years and the only one to have made it to floor debate. Said fire operations chief Luis Salas, “There’s no excuse why it should not have been a reality that hydrants are in accord with present and future necessities. We are now working on regulations to determine the distance between hydrants.” A dismaying lack of hydrants exists throughout the nation.