NORTH FULTON, Ga — Sandy Springs fire officials want to make it mandatory for homeowner associations to test fire hydrants annually on private property.
Getsabel Guzman told Channel 2’s Mike Petchenik she still remembers when a dry fire hydrant hampered efforts to extinguish a raging blaze at her neighbor’s condo in April 2011.
“The fire was pretty bad,” she said of the fire in Winding River Village. “It was about 20 minutes to get the water out.”
Sandy Springs Fire Department Deputy Chief Mark Duke said the city currently requires annual testing of hydrants on public right of way and in apartment complexes. Duke said the proposal before City Council would require the same for hydrants on private property, such as in condo and town home communities, and in neighborhoods with private roads.
“By having these associations test their hydrants, it’s going to give us a little more insurance that the hydrants are going to be operational,” said Duke.
Duke estimated that nearly 260 hydrants in the city haven’t undergone annual testing, and that some hydrants may not have been tested for nearly a decade.
“If the hydrant hasn’t been tested, we don’t know if it’s operational,” he said.
Guzman said she applauds the city’s proposal.
“The city and the association can do something about it,” she said.
Condo owner Clarence Mitchell told Petchenik he doesn’t believe his association should be on the hook for the cost associated with hydrant testing.
“If we’re paying our taxes, the city should maintain that, or the taxes should cover that,” he said.
The president of one HOA told Petchenik by phone the proposal, in theory, makes sense, but he thought the cost would overburden already stretched homeowner’s associations.
The item is scheduled to go before Sandy Springs city council next week.