Concern over fire hydrants

7:20am Wednesday 27th August 2008

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A COUNTY councillor fears lives could be put at risk if 'poorly-maintained' fire hydrants in Abergavenny are not brought up to standard.

The state of the hydrants in the town has been described as 'worrying' by Councillor James George following a street-by-street investigation.

Cllr George, who carried out a survey of hydrants in the Lansdown ward, said: "It's taken some time as there are over 40 hydrants, but there's no easily available public register of the location of these on the internet."

Fire Hydrants assist fire fighters in extinguishing a fire by providing water once a hose is attached.

A yellow 'H' indicates the location of the hydrant and is marked with two numbers indicating the size of the water main and the distance from the sign.

Mr George's survey has shown many fire hydrant 'H' signs missing, worn away, not maintained or not clearly marked for the fire service.

"Lives are at risk if crews come from outside the area and can't identify them," he said.

"It's really important that these signs stand out for firefighters in the dark or bad weather, but from just looking around the ward its obvious that many of these hydrants are just not been maintained to the required standard."

"On one occasion I have found hydrant plates missing or loose and one was filled with silt and debris. How the fire service could use these in the event of a fire nearby is worrying."

Cllr George has contacted local Assembly Member, Michael German, and leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats at the Assembly to help investigate the matter.

"Enquiries have so far shown that it's not clear who exactly is actually responsible for the maintenance of fire hydrants, whether it the local Fire Service or the Water Companies. "I am sure that everyone wants to be reassured that this vital public service is maintained in tip-top quality," he said.

A spokesperson for Welsh Water said that the company is only responsible for the water and not the hydrants themselves.

No one from the South Wales Fire Service was available to comment.