Gretna house catches fire but hydrants are shut off

Danville Register & Bee
Published: April 29, 2008

The nonfunctioning fire hydrants firefighters tried to use to put out a blaze Sunday night in Gretna were shut down due to an upgrading project, according to the town manager.
The town of Gretna is about halfway through the $1.2 million project, which includes installing about 4,000 feet of 6-inch PVC line into the water system on the southern part of Northside Drive, Gretna Town Manager David Lilly said Monday. The purpose of the project is to improve water quality and water flow for fire protection.
“It’s just unfortunate this fire happened right in the middle of this construction project,” Lilly said.
The project also includes a revamp of homes, installation of new hydrants, and new sidewalks, curbs and gutters.
The fire damaged a home on Chaney Lane and displaced a family. There were no injuries but the blaze caused heavy fire and smoke damage to the top floor of the Cape Cod-style brick home at 209 Chaney Lane, David Bowles, deputy chief of the Gretna Volunteer Fire Department, said Sunday night. Bowles said the home was uninhabitable.
Firefighters from departments in Gretna and Hurt tried to use three nearby fire hydrants, but they did not work, Bowles said.
The town did not notify the department of the shutdown, he said, adding the departments still had the fire under control in about 18 minutes.
“The fact that the hydrants they tried to refill their tanks with were temporarily out of service had absolutely nothing to do with the fighting of this fire,” Lilly said in a statement.
He said the three hydrants were shut off as part of the project, and that the town covered the ones switched off with plastic bags Monday. A hydrant about 400 feet from the house at Chaney Lane was working Sunday night, Lilly said.
The older water line is open for water consumption but not fire protection, he said.
Weather has halted construction but the closed hydrants will be functioning again in about two weeks, Lilly added.
Pittsylvania County Fire Marshal Steve Bowman declined to comment on the incident, but said the danger posed by defunct hydrants during a fire would depend on several variables, including the size of the blaze and structure.