HOUSTON – One day after the city revealed two fire hydrants were not working as a massive fire engulfed a warehouse in northwest Houston, 2 Investigates learned from Mayor John Whitmire that two departments will be conducting a “complete review”.
Whitmire was fired up on Thursday telling Houstonians, “If we don’t make this city safe and have workable fire hydrants nothing else matters.”
Now the complete review will be conducted by two departments who work together to ensure that fire hydrants are operating properly, Public Works and the Houston Fire Department.
The mayor making clear on Thursday who wanted answers, “Obviously I will leave here, go back to City Hall and hold public works and other city employees accountable,” said Whitmire.
HFD tells 2 Investigates 320 fire hydrants are currently out of service. A spokesperson added hundreds more require maintenance.
There are over 59,000 around the city according to HFD.
Whitmire - who campaigned and won with a platform of public safety - said Thursday that, “Fire hydrants should be and is our highest priority.”
The mayor on Friday said that previous administrations have not addressed the well documented aging infrastructure of the city which has resulted in the neglect taking a toll on valuable resources.
“Previous administrations just, they declared success. ‘Everything is fine.’ Well when you get on the scene you’ll find things are not fine.”
Now, the city is forced to addressed the challenges at a time when it finds itself in a budget crisis. Attorney Joe Vinas says documented non-working fire hydrants that jeopardize the safety of the public and HFD personnel may open the city up for potential litigation if there is injury or death.
“I’m sure the city attorney’s office is nervous about hearing that number, the 320 fire hydrants throughout the city are not functioning properly,” said Houston attorney Joe Vinas.
HFD says the 320 that are not working make up less than 1% of the hydrants in the city. They also add there are hundreds more that require maintenance, meaning they have vegetation around them or they might even be missing a cap.
The bottom line for Vinas, “Whoever they need to light a fire under, they need to do it.”
