NO WATER IN THE FIRE HYDRANTS as told by the Donald J. Trump. If you are not aware of, what does it mean and how this claim is not realistic, I will try to explain you. Especially in the context of damaging fire in California.
What are Fire Hydrants:
Fire hydrants are the part of domestic water supply installed on the curbs of Streets, underground or above ground. The main purpose of these hydrants is to supply the water to fire brigade in case there is fire in the vicinity. Though, these hydrants are vital part of fire system network, it does not mean that these hydrants would always have enough water in case water is required to fight with fire.
Are they effective in Bush Fires like California fire 2025?
NO. There is big no. These hydrants never meant to be serving the purpose when there is huge catastrophic situation as is happening in Cailfornia. Obviously, there are others measure which can be effective to counter these kinds of situations but that’s not the point of discussion here.
The claim of Donal J. Trump that Fire Hydrants are empty could be true in some context, but the reality is different. It does not matter how much water is available in those street hydrants of California, it never suitable to fight with the fire that scale.
How much water they can supply?
Capacity of a street hydrant could be up to 1500 gallons per minute. The question should not be how much water can flow through a hydrant. Instead, the question should be what is the source of water supply to the hydrant to be used for emergency purpose and what is the capacity of piping network connected with those hydrants to operate simultaneously?
NFPA 1 which is fire code in USA mandates that there shall be minimum water for each building to be used in fire emergency. The maximum water available for any building shall be 8000 gallons per minute for minimum 4 hours. Not all the buildings in Cailfornia are designed with water system of this capacity because this the worst-case scenario. Secondly, majority of the buildings which require this water demands have their own water storage facilities which can only be used for that particular building (Assume A). The piping network is not connected with town water supply. It means, if the water is required for any fire emergency even a kilometre away from that particular building A, this water cannot be easily utilised.
Another point to consider is, even the domestic water network is designed to supply 8000gallons per minute, this source would diminish in just less than 5 hours if 5 hydrants are drawing water from that source. It means, the source of water is always of limited supply and can only extinguish the fire on particular point and its surroundings.
Now someone can question that, what if the water source is sea water? In that case, water would be available for the firefighting purpose for unlimited time but here comes another problem. The piping network in domestic water supplies is not capable to operate 1000 of hydrants at the same time. As is the case in California fire 2025, where every inch is burning, the underground piping network would never be able to deliver the water from each hydrant connected with network.
Conclusion:
The claim of Donal J. Trump could be true or not regarding the emptiness of hydrants, but his statement is devoid of reality. Fire hydrant never serve the purpose of firefighting strategy when it comes to deal with damaging bushfires such as California fires 2025.
Muhamma J. Zafar
