PEERLESS - As orange flames ate away the house that Bonnie Spinks had lived in since she was 16, she and her husband Rick watched helplessly from a hill in their backyard.
The four fire departments trying to quench the flames were not helpless, but they did lack the most important thing in fighting fire.
Water.
"This was just a very large fire. We had two large structures close to each other; we probably used close to 12,000 gallons of water," said Justin Burnette, chief of the Marshall Township Volunteer Fire Department.
"On most typical fires we only use 4,000 to 6,000 gallons, and we can handle that. But we're in trouble when we go to a big fire or when we go somewhere that doesn't have water hydrants."
Hydrants, and the water they supply, can be particularly insufficient in the country. Though large plots of land and quiet country roads may be a drawing point for many homeowners, fire protection can be a little-known challenge to living outside city limits. For most fire departments in Lawrence County, getting enough water to the scene of a rural fire can be a common problem. And for homeowners, access to water can make a big difference in their insurance bills.
Hydrant use
Most rural areas do not have access to the larger hydrants that are found in more populated areas such as Bedford or Mitchell. Fire departments deal with two types of hydrants: regular hydrants and flush hydrants. A regular hydrant is fed water through a 12-inch main and has multiple large outlets. A flush hydrant is fed water through a small main and has one smaller outlet.
The water mains in most rural communities are not large enough to support regular hydrants.
In the Spinks blaze, for example, firefighters were driving a pumper truck to a nearby flush hydrant. They also were driving a pumper truck from Peerless to Needmore to get water.
That's the problem facing most rural areas of the county.
"Our area is just not developed enough to have large mains. It would cost millions upon millions to do something like that," said Nelson Terrell, president of the South Lawrence Water Authority board.
The South Lawrence Water Authority has been re-building and making additions to water mains, but the size of the area calls for water mains that would support flush hydrants.
While the larger hydrants are designed with fire protection in mind, the primary purpose of flush hydrants is to allow for air to be cleared from the system. Because of the smaller mains, fire hoses cannot be connected directly to flush hydrants. Fire departments pump water into their trucks, which still takes longer than regular hydrants because of lower water pressure.
"Most water districts are not in the business of fire protection. That's where the problem comes in. They're created strictly to supply water," said Jim Soper, executive director of the Alliance of Indiana Rural Water. "You need larger mains to support larger hydrants for fire fighting, and water districts that are focused on supplying water aren't built like that. This is a problem you see all across Indiana with the aging infrastructure."
Soper added that many water districts are becoming aware of the problem of water supply and are building larger mains as areas expand.
Phil Hawkins, manager of the North Lawrence Water Authority, said larger lines have been run to some of the area's newer developments. But in most of that area, and in the bulk of Lawrence County, firefighters work from flush hydrants.
"The flush hydrants just aren't built to have hoses on them. There's not enough water pressure, and doing anything more than pumping water out of them will break the main," Hawkins said. "We'd love to let them use them (flush hydrants) if it would save a house or a person, but it would defeat the purpose because then they'd break the main and have no water."
Bill Raines, assistant chief of the Perry Township Volunteer Fire Department, knows how different life can be with different hydrants. Raines worked for the department 10 years ago when there were no regular hydrants in the area. Perry, which has expanded, has had regular hydrants added since then.
"It's helped us out so much. Filling up is so much quicker," Raines said. "It used to take us 20-30 minutes to fill our tanks, and now that time has been cut in half. Now we just get to the hydrant, get the water and go."
Getting to those hydrants, however, can be a problem in itself.
Because hydrants are placed at the end of water mains or at high points in the main, they are in scattered locations. The responsibility of keeping weeds from growing up around the mains does not fall to the fire department or the water authorities, so at times the hydrants can be difficult to find. Most departments use maps supplied by the water authority.
Soper stressed that water authorities and fire departments must work together to maintain their knowledge of the flush hydrants.
"We have a map of all the flush hydrants in our area, and we work well with North Lawrence (water authority)," said L.D. Martin, captain of the Indian Creek Volunteer Fire Department. "They really take care of us. We let them know if we have problems, and they pretty much keep up with it."
Leaders of the water systems - Hawkins, Terrell and East Lawrence Water Authority Manager Bob Wever - said maps of the hydrants are available and that many chiefs use them. Many departments also maintain their own maps, and some regularly check the hydrants' water pressure.
Other options
Fire departments also are turning to added resources for help.
The Perry Township Fire Department took further steps in providing water for fires after multiple fires in the Popcorn area, where few hydrants are available. After receiving donations from individuals and churches, the department bought a $1,200 pump. Firefighters can pump directly out of any water source and into a truck. Raines said the pump has been used to contain fires that previously would have been difficult to deal with because of lack of water.
Pleasant Run Volunteer Fire Department is turning to existing water sources.
Because of a governmental grant through the White River Conservation and Development District and cooperation from Lawrence County water districts, dry hydrants can be installed anywhere in Lawrence County free of cost to property owners. Dry hydrants are connected to a water source, such as a lake, and are only used when a fire department hooks to them and fills tanks directly from the source. Pleasant Run has had five dry hydrants installed in the community in the last two years.
"We just didn't have enough water," said Pleasant Run Chief Steve Nolan. "Some people have come to us about the dry hydrants, and some of them we went out and located good areas. People have been really receptive to it. They're willing to help out wherever they can because really it helps them, too."
Departments also depend on each other. All 11 of the county's departments have a signed mutual aid agreement and a new mutual response agreement.
The mutual aid agreement means firefighters will assist at fires in other communities. So when one department needs help, it can call another for backup. Mutual aid is the reason there were four departments, with four different tankers, at the Spinks fire.
Under the mutual response agreement, nearby fire departments will be dispatched at the same time as the fire department for the specific community.
"It would be nice to have these big hydrants and elaborate water systems, but that's not really a possibility," said Ron Olson, chief of the Guthrie Township Volunteer Fire Department. "So we just have to rely on other resources and each other as much as possible."
Money, money
The lack of water can lead to higher insurance rates.
Each community is given a fire rating based on a scale from one to 10. The higher the rating, the more a home owner will pay for insurance.
Bedford, for example, has a stable water supply, a full-time professional fire department and a fire rating of 4. The rural areas, which are served by volunteers, have ratings of 7 or higher.
Jerry Taylor, a Prudential Insurance agent, said rates outside Bedford can be two or three times as high as rates in the city.
"It's great when fire ratings can be dropped," he said. "For example, I've written several in Perry Township, and I've been able to save people $100 to $150 a year since their rating was changed."
Many fire departments are working to lower those ratings.
Jason Lewis, fire chief in Oolitic and chairman of the Lawrence County Volunteer Firefighters Association, said dual response agreements and updated equipment can help communities earn better numbers.
"With the dual response agreements, if a homeowner is closer to a responding fire department with a lower rating, then they can possibly get their rating lowered," Lewis said. "Oolitic is also working to get more equipment and training to lower our rating."
Though departments work hard and use extra resources to keep water available at fires, water may always be a challenge in rural areas. Just as Burnette and the other departments found at the scene of the fire in Marshall, sometimes, besides the best of intentions, water just isn't available. "We did the best we could with what we had, but we just couldn't keep the water coming fast enough," Burnette said.
