Orange City Council 'puts hand up' over water supply to fire hydrants

Orange City Council’s Manager of Corporate and Community Relations, Nick Redmond has responded to concerns over whether there was enough water available to fight the fire, and suggestions that the main along William Street was dry, when NSW Fire and Rescue arrived at the scene.

"Orange City Council has put it's hand up and admitted making a mistake, and we’ll wear the public criticism," Nick Redmond said.

"There was enough water before the fire for the businesses in William Street for normal daily use, but not enough for fire-fighters to use."

"In any case, whether there was no water or not enough water is irrelevant when it comes to not being able to put out a fire. Because valves were turned off in error, Orange City Council has admitted there was not enough water in the pipes.

Orange City Council General Manager Garry Styles said council staff have been involved in a preliminary debrief with NSW Fire and Rescue and have also been in discussions with the Rural Fire Service which also attended the fire.

“A further debrief is scheduled in a couple of weeks' time. In the meantime this event has triggered a number of actions from Council," Garry Styles said. "An immediate city-wide audit and inspection program for valves and hydrants has begun. Additionally a review of protocols around opening and closing valves is under way and will continue”.

The Water Maintenance Crew discovered that the valves on the Dalton/McLachlan Street roundabout were closed. These valves were closed due to a substantial leak under the roundabout.

The Water Maintenance Crew reopened these valves, immediately improving water flows to the fire site in William Street.

Between the arrival of NSW Fire and Rescue and the valves being reopened, alternative water sources were provided by Council in a water tanker and a minimum of six Rural Fire Service tankers.

NSW Fire and Rescue also relayed water from hydrants in March Street. Council staff also opened the stand pipe at the McLachlan St Works Depot for the Rural Fire Service and managed traffic control.

It is also understood that power to Transgrid lines needed to be cut off before firefighting could procced in full as the live powerlines presented a significant hazard if sprayed with water.

The water main in William Street is a ring main which under normal operations provides water from both ends. With the roundabout valves closed, water was only being charged from the March Street end.

Design criteria for fire flows in water reticulation modelling instructs that 20 litres per second needs to be available (10 litres per second at two hydrants).

This week Council staff have been on site to test the system. Those tests found that when the roundabout valves are open, 30 litres per second is available in the main.

The test found that when the valves at the roundabout are closed the flows are 7.6 litres per second across two hydrants.