D.C. officials say they’re working hard to repair the city’s dysfunctional fire hydrants, but a key councilman Friday raised the possibility that fire and water officials are using fuzzy math in their public statements.
Phil Mendelson, D-at large, chairs the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee. He said at a public hearing that he has discovered at least 30 useless fire hydrants that don’t appear on the agency’s public repair list.
Fire officials were stung by revelations last year that hundreds of fire hydrants didn’t work. Neighbors were outraged when the Georgetown library burned — in part because firefighters had to go blocks out of their way to get a working hydrant.
More than a year after that fire, Mendelson said, he’s worried.
“The numbers don’t add up,” he said Friday.
Water department executive Jerry Johnson said his agency has “made progress” at restoring service. He said he couldn’t answer Mendelson’s concern about the 30 hydrants, but promised to “follow up” with the council.
In the meantime, “we have a high level of confidence in the system,” Johnson said.
After the Georgetown fire, officials promised to inspect all 9,010 hydrants in the city. More than 240 remain idle, authorities said at Friday’s hearing.
After the hearing, Mendelson told The Examiner that he hopes the administration will take the problem seriously.
“The fundamental question is why so many hydrants are falling through the cracks,” he said.
