INDIANAPOLIS
--
Firefighters were severely hampered in their effort to douse a raging blaze Monday at a Texas Roadhouse because of fire hydrants that had been tampered with.
With temperatures in the low teens, firefighters tried to tap into the three hydrants nearest to the Shadeland Avenue fire, only to find that all of them were frozen because they were not properly closed the last time they were used, said Paul Whitmore, of Veolia Water.
"Where we end up seeing problems is people use those hydrants without letting us know," Whitmore said.
Firefighters spent about 2½ hours getting the blaze under control, but the building was destroyed, 6News' Ericka Flye reported.
Fire officials said they spent an inordinate amount of time finding a hydrant that wasn't frozen, blocks away from the fire.
John Veal, who works across the street from the Texas Roadhouse, said he didn't consider that they hydrants that pepper the area might not work.
"As long as they've been making fire hydrants, why don't they make one that doesn't freeze up?" he said.
Whitmore said it wouldn't have been an issue if the hydrants had been closed properly, which would have prevented leaks that allowed cold air to get in.
Veolia inspects and services all of the county's 36,000 hydrants at least once a year. The hydrants near the restaurant passed inspection in May. They were inspected again Monday in the aftermath of the blaze.
"It's times like this when we discover unauthorized use," Whitmore said.
Veolia asked anyone who suspects hydrant tampering to call them so the hydrant can be inspected again.
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