Firefighters were forced to dig up a buried fire hydrant at a South Nashville condo.
When crews arrived Wednesday evening on Long Hunter Court, the condo unit was nearly engulfed in flames.
Crews worked quickly to douse the fire in foam before hooking up to the closest hydrant, which was just around the corner. However, there was one problem.
"I'm sure when they ran down here to hook the hose to it they didn't expect to see it like that," one resident explained.
The fire hydrant was buried under several inches of dirt and grass. "They came down here to hook up and that's when they said they had to dig it out," he added.
It took firefighters only a few moments to dig out the hydrant, but in emergencies every second can count.
"The fire department already puts their lives on the line every day to do their job and they shouldn't make their job any harder or put themselves in more danger if a fire got hotter because of the delay in time for waiting on a hydrant," one resident said.
Thankfully, the woman who lived there made it out safely with her cat, but residents questioned why fire fighters had to dig in the first place, especially when they pay hundreds in monthly HOA fees.
Local fire officials said there are about 20,000 hydrants spread across Nashville. If a hydrant is on private property it falls on the facility maintenance company to keep up with it.
Kathleen Sutherland is the manager for Ghertner and Company Property management. She released this statement:
"The safety of the community and its residents is our top priority. We will follow up and take all appropriate action."
"Nashville Fire Department was amazing in their response time and their hard work but they should never have to come down and deal with this, their work is hard enough and they're putting their lives on the line to keep us safe," said a resident.
If you're uncertain whether a fire hydrant near you falls on private or public property, contact your local fire department or the Fire Marshall's Office.
