October 22, 2007
Closer Hydrant Wasn't Tapped in Adams Morgan Fire
Over the weekend the Post published an update to the Adams Morgan water pressure saga. Turns out firefighters did not tap into a much closer hydrant connected to a larger water main due to a false assumption about which main it was connected to.
The fire department continues to point the finger at WASA, however, saying that it is nearly impossible for firefighters in the field to know which hydrants are connected to what kind of water mains. Maps of the city's water system are outdated and difficult to read, the fire department said. D.C. Fire Chief Dennis Rubin has proposed that WASA color-code hydrants according to water flow, so firefighters can quickly determine which hydrants to use. WASA's maps do show the hydrant in question was connected to a separate, 12-inch main, however.
No one seems ready to take responsibility for the decisions that led the condominium building fire to rage on for almost eight hours. Rubin's idea to color-code the city's hydrants is a good one, and WASA should absolutely have more up to date, easier to read maps available for fire crews. But it does appear as though the decision not to use a closer hydrant was at least partially firefighter error, and it could go a long way toward the two agencies playing nicely together in the future if the Fire Chief now admitted to some amount of blame in this incident.
Photo by Samer Farha
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I'm all for low-cost solutions to difficult problems. However, I wonder how long it'll take them to actually implement this, with the bidding process, determining what colors mean what, etc. etc. etc.
Color-coding seems a little problematic as it is prone to vandalism... not that anyone would necessarily set out to do it, but a fire hydrant painted a different color by a third party is akin to stealing a stop sign.
i think you shouldn't report the fire department's opinion on the maps as fact, sommer. as a cartographer, i'm aware of research that shows varying levels of map reading ability in the general population, and it may just be that the firefighters weren't good map readers. that's no knock on them individually or as a group, it's just a fact that most americans have difficulty reading maps accurately.
that said, the maps that WASA does have should absolutely be examined by all of the stakeholders and some good map designers, and they should set out to do whatever is necessary to increase the maps' readability and usefulness. there's always room for improvement.
For reasons that can't really be explained, every story the Post has written about this incident seems to side, even slightly, with WASA in the dispute.
Look, whether or not the second 12-inch main at 18th and Columbia was tapped or not, the fact remains that 6-inch mains run up and down Adams Mill Rd. which has 10 multi-unit buildings on it and the six inch pipes are not going to be able to handle a large fire. Had WASA coordinated with DDOT during the summer of 2004 when Adams Mill was being redone, those pipes could have been replaced then.
Those same six-inch pipes, mind you, run up and down 18th Street and as of right now, WASA has no plans to coordinate with DDOT when the reconstruction of 18th Street begins in the next 18th months or so.
Goddamned water pigs.
Wait, water puts out fires???? Holy crap! Who knew? I thought we were supposed to just round up the closest homeless guys and get them to piss on the flames.
Gotta love how DC can spend endless amounts of energy on the blame game, but when it comes to actually putting out the fires that happen, the fighters are too busy coordinating a prostitution ring and the water management staff are nowhere to be found, presumably off in the Potomac woods doing a rain dance so the resevoir will fill up. Either that, or figuring out new ways to make the drinking water taste like hell.