By Herbert F. Mintz II : 48hills – excerpt

Lurie wants more density in an area that has fallen behind in a key public safety area

To the editor:

This is testimony I submitted to the Land Use and Transportation Committee on Mayor Daniel Lurie’s new zoning plan:

I am here to tell you about a serious public safety concern that I and my neighbors have that needs your immediate attention.

I am talking about the fact that the city’s high pressure Emergency Firefighting Water System does not extend much into the city’s westside and southern neighborhoods. Without this vital life-saving infrastructure in place, the westside, in particular, with its hundreds of blocks of wood-frame buildings, will likely succumb to firestorms of unimaginable proportions immediately following the next great earthquake.

Fire hydrants with white caps are not ‘hardened’ for an emergency. Investigating further we find:

The color codes are complicated and that goes to show just how complicated the entire fire protection system is. Different colors indicate different water source sand different water pressure, and in some cases, using the hydrant requires a special truck attached to be effective. What we do no is that the West Side Auxiliary system was never completed.

My particular neighborhood is at great risk due to the lack of this vital infrastructure. I am reminded practically every day of the fact of the absence of the city’s fire protection infrastructure. Right outside my living room window is a fire hydrant with a white cap. This piece of infrastructure will be useless in suppressing the conflagration expected after gas mains burst and the westside neighborhoods are a blaze as that type of fire hydrant isn’t “hardened.”… (more)