Firefighters testing hydrants to keep residents' insurance rates low

Blue, sunny skies and a fall breeze evidently make for the perfect days to test out some of the city's 800-plus fire hydrants, as El Dorado firefighters did on Wednesday.

Local residents may have noticed firefighters in their regular uniforms – not their fire suits – working alongside roads and in neighborhoods this week. El Dorado Fire Chief Chad Mosby explained Wednesday afternoon that the department is testing fire hydrants to ensure they're in good working order.

"Part of the requirements of our fire protection class for insurance ratings requires us to test a certain percentage of the hydrants each year to ensure we have adequate water flow for fires, and it also helps us identify fire hydrants that may have been damaged or are not operating properly," Mosby explained.

The firefighters testing the hydrants are looking for a few things, Mosby said: one, how much water a hydrant is able to produce; and two, how much opening a hydrant impacts the pressure of other water sources nearby.

"They will gauge the water flow coming out of the hydrant to determine how many gallons a minute they can get from each hydrant, and then they will also put a pressure gauge on another hydrant on the same system to see how much it drops when the other is open," Mosby said.

The testing may cause a loss of water clarity for residents who live near the hydrants that are being checked this week, but Mosby said it's only temporary.

"It does stir up some sediments in the water mains, but most of that will settle back down in a day or two," he said.

Any hydrants that aren't up to snuff will be repaired, the chief said. Firefighters will first see if any cleaning or maintenance they can do will fix it, and if they can't, they'll report the issue to El Dorado Water Utilities.

"If it's not in good working order, first they'll see if they can correct that while they're there; sometimes it's things like the caps are rusted, so they'll take those off, brush off the threads and get the corrosion off. If it's something we can't fix, the water utility will put it on their repair list," Mosby said.

The annual testing ensures that the city can maintain or improve its ISO, or Insurance Services Office, rating. Currently, the City of El Dorado has an ISO rating of 2. The highest rating is a 1.

"We always strive to reach the highest insurance rating we can to save our citizens on their insurance premiums," Mosby said. "It's an ongoing process; one day, we hope to achieve a class 1 (rating)."

The work is particularly important as fall begins and dry weather continues in Union County. Slow, steady rain over the weekend allowed Union County Judge Mike Loftin to lift a burn ban that had been in place through October on Monday, but Mosby urged local residents to remain cautious.

"If we don't get regular rain, I don't expect us to go on without another burn ban being issued," he said. "We are in the fall part of the year, so vegetation is going dormant, isn't holding moisture, and if you're going to be doing outdoor burning, you need to be very, very careful. Have a water hose handy."

He noted that burn permits are required for El Dorado residents for outdoor burning. Burn permits can be obtained at any of the city's four fire stations or over the phone, and they are free.

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