Even the best Fire Department in the country is helpless without the most important tool to fire fighting – water! Approximately 60% of New Canaan is outside the area covered by the two public water supply companies – Aquarion and Second District Water Company. This means that water for fire fighting must be trucked in or an alternate water source must be found.
Fire Marshal Paul Payne. Credit: Michael Dinan
There are some cisterns (buried tanks) and dry hydrants (pipes into ponds, polls and streams) spotted throughout these areas however there are still many areas with no readily available water source. The key phrase is “readily available”. There are many ponds, streams, and swimming pools, however getting a fire truck close enough to effectively use them is usually difficult, time consuming and ineffective and every second counts.
There are however, options available to New Canaan residents. One option is to install a fire department connection into your swimming pool when it is built. This option is not always feasible due to equipment limitations or differences in elevations but, when everything works out this is a very attractive possibility.
Another option is to install a dry hydrant into a pond or stream (one that flows year round). Again this has limitations – our fire trucks need to be able to pull up next to the hydrant in all types of weather so “off-roading” to gain access is out of the question.
Whatever the solution, having a nearby water source is critical to effective fire fighting operations – and it can save property owners significantly on their homeowners insurance which can help pay for the dry hydrant.
For further information or assistance with this, or any fire safety questions, please feel free to contact the New Canaan Fire Marshal’s Office at 203-594-3030.