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Local fire departments and agencies wrestle with water situation
By MARCIE SCHELLHAMMER
Era Reporter
Bottled water and conservation efforts seem to be working for most local residents until the Bradford Water Authority has the water system back to full capacity — but the fire departments are a different story.
On Monday, Bradford City Fire Chief Boo Coder explained he had met with representatives of volunteer fire departments in Derrick City and Bradford Township to work out plans for response to fires during the water shortage.
“As things are right now, if we have a fire and we get there and there is any magnitude at all, if there is any sign of smoke or fire, we’ll call a second alarm and they’ll come in,” he said of the area volunteers.
The other departments will send a truck to respond to the fire as well, Coder said, and the fire hydrants will be used. The city doesn’t have a tanker truck.
“Within the city limits, there’s hydrants no further than every 400 feet,” he explained. “We really don’t need an alternative.”
However, since the water table is low, as is the water pressure, some other plan needs to be in place on a temporary basis.
Tankers are available in Lewis Run and Rew if needed, Coder said.
“All of us are banding together,” he said.
The full impact of the water problem remains to be seen, but some area agencies are saying it’s business as usual in the interim — with a little conservation thrown in.
On Monday, Bradford Regional Medical Center officials said the hospital had not been adversely impacted by the water crisis.
“This incident has had zero effect on any phases of patient care at the hospital or for residents at The Pavilion at BRMC,” said Jeff Gabel, BRMC’s Plant Services director.
“We are currently adhering to the boil-water advisory and water conservation request issued by the city’s Water Authority,” he said.
“Although the boil-water advisory is not mandatory, we have decided to err on the side of caution. Our staff in dietary services at the Medical Center continues to boil all water prior to cooking as well as using paper products in lieu of soiling dishes for water conservation purposes,” Gabel said. “We are also stocking all patient areas with bottled water and bagged ice for consumption.”
Gabel said hospital officials plan to conserve water for the next five or seven days, or until the city water supply has recovered to normal levels.
And until then, local residents are all trying to do their part in the conservation effort.
Valerie Mark, executive director of the Bradford Housing Authority, which is number 10 on the city’s highest water consumer list, said many residents there are buying jugs of bottled water.
“We received some complaints Sunday from tenants, but that’s because they thought we had turned the water off,” she said. The tenants haven’t been filing complaints since then, but have been stocking up on water and keeping Mark informed on up-to-date information on the water situation.
“The tenants are telling me more than I know,” she said, laughing.
Residents of Lewis Run haven’t seen too much of an impact as of yet, according to Borough Council President Frank Langianese.
Lewis Run has been hooked into the city’s water for the past few years after contamination was discovered in wells and springs that serviced the borough. However, Langianese explained, “We’ve got a 200,000 storage tank and 200,000 storage reservoir. We’ve got anywhere from four or five days where we won’t have too much problems with it.”
He said the borough uses roughly 60,000 gallons per day. Borough officials are still urging conversation to be on the safe side, he added.
“They’ve lost all that water” during the leaks over the weekend. “At this time of year, it’s tough to make up,” Langianese said.
He added that along with the news about Bradford’s water system on Monday, the borough received some news about their former system, too.
He said the borough received a check from the Department of Environmental Protection for $104,000 in response to a contention between the borough and agency over one of the contaminated wells in the borough.
The well had been drilled and its use discontinued at the request of the DEP; the borough wanted compensation for the money spent drilling it. Langianese said this money received was in response to that legal issue. He added that a work session would be scheduled to decide what to do with the funds.
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