FIRE HYDRANTS BROKEN - Winding River Village April 19, 2011

Why Didn't Fire Hydrants Work In Sandy Springs Emergency?

Three Hurt As Firefighters Scrambled To Extinguish Condominium Fire
By Jocelyn Connell, CBS Atlanta Reporter

POSTED: 2:49 pm EDT April 19, 2011
UPDATED: 6:08 pm EDT April 20, 2011
FULTON COUNTY,Ga. -- Watch Video

City of Atlanta crews repaired four faulty fire hydrants at The Winding River Village Condos in Sandy Springs Wednesday morning.

Fire caused an entire building to collapse there Tuesday afternoon. Firefighters lost precious time when the first hydrant they tried to use was bad.

"How are you not going to have fire hydrants that are not working?" asked Susanna Nunez, a victim who lost everything.

CBS Atlanta worked to find out who dropped the ball on inspecting the hydrants.

"If it's on private property, it'll be the property owners' responsibility to maintain the hydrants. If it's on public property or it's a public main, then Atlanta Watershed Management will maintain those hydrants," explained Jeff Scarbrough, Sandy Springs Fire Marshal.

According to Janet Ward, a spokeswoman for Atlanta Watershed Management, Atlanta supplies and repairs the hydrants. However, she said Atlanta relies on Sandy Springs' inspectors to report problems.

Ward said no issues were reported. In fact, Atlanta Watershed had no records of the hydrants even being inspected.

Scarbrough said Sandy Springs never inspected the hydrants because they're on private property.

CBS Atlanta asked Scarbrough, is Sandy Springs legally responsible for inspecting the hydrants?

"No, we are not," he said.

Scarbrough said property management and the condo owners' association are.

The president of the condo owners' association told CBS Atlanta he had no idea and would be working closely with firefighters to arrange those inspections.

"You pay what you're suppose to pay, and you think everything's suppose to work for you, and it's like nothing worked for us, everything just failed," said renter Beverly Wilson upon hearing the news of who was responsible.

The fire left three people injured. Monica Stafford was taken to a hospital with smoke inhalation and second-degree burns on her hand and leg. Two firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion.

Investigators said the fire started in Stafford's apartment.

The flames spread through the attic of the building, causing part of the building to collapse.

Scarbrough was expected to release the cause of the fire Thursday.

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[frugalfriday]

Thank you for posting. My heart goes out to your loss. I'm petting my dog and don't know how I'd accept losing him so needlessly. God Bless You.