Water, Fire Department cut deal on fire hydrants

After months of bickering, the D.C.’s water authority and fire department have agreed to inspect the city’s fire hydrants twice a year, the first time the hydrants have been inspected on a routine basis in recent memory.

The tussle over the maintenance of the fire hydrants had been ongoing for nearly a year, but the issue erupted publicly after two fire hydrants failed during a blaze that gutted the historic Georgetown public library in April. Firefighters conducted their own inspection blitz of more than 10,000 hydrants and found that more than 10 percent were out of order.