That’s great for training. In the event of a real fire though, you’ve got multiple pumps hooked up to those same low pressure hydrants. And once the pressure from the pipes can’t meet the demand, cavitation kicks in. Water vapor forms and creates shockwaves that can damage the hydrants, damage the engine pumps, and flat out fail to fight the fire.

Training is controlled. Fires aren’t. The hydrants either meet the pressure needs or they don’t. There’s no substitute for that in a live burn.

There is some light in the tunnel though:

1) The school does have sprinklers. That helps, but let’s not pretend that’s enough to stop a fully involved fire. Sprinklers buy time, they don’t finish the job.

2) There are two private water lines the fire department can hook to. One is on the school. That line needs to be pressure tested.

3) The second is a private line on the fairgrounds by the bathhouse. It also needs to be pressure tested.

None of this changes the fact that the inoperable hydrant and the two low pressure hydrants still desperately need to be fixed. So does the underlying piping and the mains feeding them.

We would like to extend our sincere thanks for the sudden influx of detailed water system engineering knowledge from Ben Wolfe. Seems like he always has facts.

Falmouth, we are not trying to sensationalize anything. We’re simply reporting it how it is. And right now, without pressure tests on those private lines, it is still unlikely they can support actual fire suppression. That’s what hydrants are for.

We’ll update our reporting once those lines are tested and verified. Until then, no amount of wishful thinking replaces water pressure. And no parent should have to hope the fire picks a convenient hydrant.

Also, let’s not forget, Southern isn’t the only place with failing hydrants. If we start making excuses here, we’re just lowering the bar for everywhere else.

At the end of the day, liability doesn’t care if someone meant well. It cares if the system worked.

I think we all would rather be sure, right?