SPFD responds to second sheared hydrant incident in three weeks
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
Published: August 11, 2010
For the second time in about three weeks a large vehicle sheared off a fire hydrant causing a gusher of water that required a response from the Santa Paula Fire Department. According to Santa Paula Fire Captain Jerry Byrum, the latest incident occurred Wednesday, August 4 at about 4:45 p.m. in the Lemonwood Industrial Park off Highway 126.
Byrum said the incident was first reported as a traffic accident, and Assistant Fie Chief Kevin Fildes was first on scene. He discovered a truck had backed over and sheared off a fire hydrant near the intersection of Lemonwood Drive and Quail Court.
Santa Paula Engine 81 responded to the scene, and Captain Steve Lazenby, Engineer Jesse Phillips and Reserve Firefighter Kyle Jensen were able to locate and close the valve to stop the gusher of water. “They were able to close the valve and contain the water flow in 15 minutes or less,” and Byrum estimated the water loss at about 60,000 gallons.
City of Santa Paula Water Department also responded to the scene. The August 4 incident was the second such involving a fire hydrant in about three weeks.
On July 16 an out of town church bus sheared off the hydrant at the corner of East Main and Davis streets. Chief Rick Araiza said the water ran for about 30 minutes, and an estimated 350,000 gallons of water was lost while firefighters searched for the shutoff valve.
The water was flooding the flat roof of the Santa Clara Valley Bank and leaking inside the building when Captain Dan Campos ordered Engine 81 backed over the remnants of the hydrant to stop the flow of water. It worked, but the engine received damage to a rear electrical box.
“What was kind of ironic,” noted Byrum, is the August 4 fire hydrant incident “is the first call Engine 81 responded to after we took it out of service” for repair. “We got the engine back pretty quick” from city mechanics, who, Byrum said, “did a really good” job on the repair.
