Wilmer officials testing hydrants after malfunction

WILMER, Ala. (WALA) - Firefighters in Wilmer said they are continuing tests on area fire hydrants after a mobile home in Wilmer burned, and officials were unable to use a fire hydrant nearby.

But, as neighbors watched firefighters drag hose to a hydrant, they also witnessed something that scared them.

“They opened it up and a whole big blob of mud came out; and water came out after that, but there was no pressure,” said neighbor Sheila Keevan.

“They told me they couldn't get the thing turned on and couldn't get no water, so then we had to go out and go down to the next hydrant and get that one down there,” said Wilmer Volunteer Fire Chief Michael Cooper.

Wilmer volunteer firefighters were forced to drive down the street to the next closest hydrant to refill their 2500 gallon tanker truck.

It takes about three minutes to fill, but during that first fill up the home was left to burn. 

Fire Chief Michael Cooper called in help from Semmes and Georgetown Volunteer Fire Departments and the fire was eventually extinguished.  

We contacted South Alabama Utilities to find out why the hydrant didn't work, a spokesperson said they tested the hydrant Monday, March 4, and it worked properly.  They didn't say why it did not work on Sunday.

“I heard we were supposed to be responsible for testing them, which I did not know at the time until I took over as chief, recently,” said Chief Cooper.  

Chief Cooper said they started testing hydrants months ago, but Wilmer has about 500 hydrants and the volunteer Fire Department has limited manpower.

“We try to do it every weekend. We go out in different sections of the community and check them, make sure every things working,” said Chief Cooper.

Chief Cooper said Wilmer currently has an Insurance Service Rating of 8, 10 being the worst.  

An ISO rating is a statistical rating on risk that some insurance companies use to set homeowners insurance rates. 

Chief Cooper's goal is to lower Wilmer's ISO rating to 5. 

Wilmer's fire chief cooper says some of the hydrants have been turned off because of misuse, others don't work, period.

He is putting together a list of non-working hydrants for South Alabama Utilities so the two groups can test as many as possible.   

We will continue to ask the South Alabama utilities why some hydrants do not work in Wilmer.