Davis Renews Call for Hearing on D.C. Fire Hydrants

Davis Renews Call for Hearing on D.C. Fire Hydrants

Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), ranking member on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, has again requested a hearing on the faulty and broken fire hydrants in the District of Columbia.

Responding to new reports of confusion as to how many hydrants don't work and fears the problem may be worse than first believed, Davis sent another letter to Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif. Davis' letter asks the committee to determine how many hydrants don't work, how often they are inspected, how inspections are reported, how quickly repairs are made once an inspection reveals a problem and how quickly hydrants are repaired when they are discovered broken outside the inspection process.

"Nonworking fire hydrants make the city more vulnerable to a terrorist attack that could result in uncontained fires," Davis said. "…The federal government has been widely acknowledged as a likely target of additional terrorist attacks. It is Congress' responsibility to ensure the District, as the seat of the federal government, is protected and can manage the consequences of an attack."

Davis sent a letter on this matter on May 2 after efforts to fight two well-publicized fires - one at the public library in Georgetown and another at Eastern Market - were slowed by faulty hydrants. In Georgetown, firefighters had to go two blocks to find a working hydrant, which increased damage to the building and loss of valuable books and records and could have endangered lives.

Recent reports suggest at least 10 percent of D.C. hydrants are broken and another 15 percent require immediate repair. On Capitol Hill, according to D.C. Fire Chief Dennis Rubin, 15 percent of the hydrants on Capitol Hill do not function, and another 18 percent need repair. This means firemen fighting a terrorist attack on the seat of government could operate in an area where one in three nearby hydrants doesn't work.

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