Olive Hill's longstanding issues with fire hydrant maintenance and repair continue to plague not only its volunteer fire department, but homeowners as well.
Earlier this year, Fire Chief Wes Gilliam reported to City Council a total of 23 non-functioning hydrants and another 15 in need of repair.
The majority of the broken hydrants are in the downtown area, running easterly from Mill Street.
With limited access to working hydrants and often inadequate water pressure in those that are functioning, the department commonly deals with structure fires by making use of on-board water tanks and assistance from other nearby fire departments.
Gilliam admits, however, that those contingencies are ultimately limited in their effectiveness.
"If we encountered a good, working fire in the basement of First Baptist church or the nearby funeral home, it would be incredibly difficult to put out because we would have to wait 20 minutes for trucks from Grahn, Hitchins and Carter City to bring in extra water," the chief said.
He continued:
"We try not to put all of our eggs in one basket, but to say that not having those hydrants doesn't hurt us would be a lie."
According to a February 2011 interview with Water Plant Supervisor Eddie Stevens, published in the Journal-Times, the city was planning to replace five hydrants each month, given adequate manpower.
But those repairs have yet to take place.
The Journal-Times attempted to contact Stevens on Tuesday for an explanation but he was not available.
These issues affect homeowners as well as firefighters, as defective hydrants play a factor in the determination of the fire department's rating by the Insurance Services Office, also known as an ISO score.
Forty percent of the score is based on the community's water supply. Existing issues with water line infrastructure, as well as hydrant maintenance and repair, contribute directly to Olive Hill's rating of 7 on the ISO scale with 10 being the worst rating and 1 the best.
This rating directly affects the insurance premiums of property owners both inside and outside Olive Hill's city limits.
A bad ISO score usually means higher rates, while a good rating can lower home insurance bills.
Repairs to water lines and the pump station are currently underway with grant funds from the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority.
However, research by the Journal-Times indicates that, as far back as 1980, there have been hydrant maintenance and repair issues that apparently remain unresolved.
In addition to water supply and fire hydrant problems, the Olive Hill Fire Department faces a separate and equally difficult obstacle to overcome -- its location.
Currently, the fire station is located near Tygart's Creek, an area that would be underwater if a flood event were to take place as happened twice in 2010.
According to Gilliam, fire department volunteers routinely have to move numerous pieces of equipment to high ground during heavy rains as a precautionary measure.
In addition to the constant threat of flood waters in the station, OHFD also pays approximately $21,000 a year in flood insurance, which represents about a third of the department's overall budget.
In seeking ways to solve this problem, Gilliam found that proceeds from a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) could be used to fund relocation of the fire department to a more suitable part of the city.
When he approached the city, however, Gilliam says he was informed that CDBG funds had already been allocated for renovation of the old Olive Hill High School and would be unavailable for fire department use.
Despite these setbacks, Gilliam expressed a high degree of pride in the department's efforts at making the best use of its current facility and its consistently high performance in the face of infrastructure limitations in the city.
Copyright 2012 - Grayson Journal-Enquirer, Ky.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
