CHINA GROVE — Firefighters practiced Saturday without hooking hoses to a hydrant.
Because of the prolonged drought and mandatory water restrictions, the Fire Department is trying to avoid draining municipal water. During the past six months, the department has hooked to a hydrant only once, while fighting a fire on Harris Street last week.
On Saturday, 17 of the town’s 23 volunteers spent nearly six hours setting fires in an old wood house and putting them out. Smoke could be seen for miles away.
The house, owned by Mike Reid, was located on Shue Road, adjacent to Mikey’s 1 Stop and Porky’s, two businesses Reid also owns. Two 7,000-gallon tankers owned by Tony Corriher provided the water. Corriher filled them from a private well.
“Everything went well,” said Fire Chief Wayne Mishak, adding there were no injuries.
The exercise was carried out without the the town’s newest piece of equipment, a truck which features a 75-foot telescoping ladder with an aerial platform that will shoot more than 2,000 gallons of water per minute. The $435,000 truck arrived in September, about the same time the town had to enact water restrictions.
Mishak said firefighters hope to do more live “burns.” Environmental Protection Agency standards make live burns more difficult. Training burns require extensive paperwork and state approval.
The department has approval for an upcoming training session involving an house on the 400 block of North Bostian Street. But Mishak said the North Bostian Street session will require hooking to a hydrant. It won’t be done until more water is available.
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