Grant helps Vt. firefighters install pressure hydrant system

By Josh Stilts
The Brattleboro Reformer

DOVER, Vt. — The ability to fight fires in East Dover got a little easier after the volunteer fire company installed a pressure hydrant system from a pond on Locust Heights Road.

As part of an ongoing program to improve the water supply for fire protection, the hydrant will provide a reliable water supply to the Goose City area of East Dover, fire Chief Jon Abel said.

The hydrant was constructed in part with grant funding from the Vermont Rural Fire Protection Task Force, which provides design and engineering assistance, and from the Northern Vermont Resource Conservation and Development.

"Hydrants are a preferred method of providing water for firefighting in areas where there are no water mains," Abel said. "The dry hydrant has a six- to eight-inch pipe with a fitting to connect with the pumper truck."

Abel said the pond has more than 170,000 gallons of water available to the fire department and that they were able to pump 1,400 gallons a minute during a training session earlier this month.

He added that "the pond will be able to recharge, either through rainfall or the various tributaries leading into it, giving the fire department a sustainable option to fight fires."

This is the second grant East Dover received to install a pressurized hydrant system, Abel said. The first one was installed in 2008.

Troy Dare, engineering technician for the dry hydrant and rural water supply grant program, said the systems have been instrumental in assisting fire departments in emergency situations.

The grant program has assisted 200 communities with the development of more than 700 rural water supply hydrant systems since 1998, Dare said.

For more information on the grant program visit www.nvtrcd.org, or call 802-828-4595.

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