Published: November 11, 2009 07:39 pm      

Faulty fire hydrant sparks concern at Tazewell Middle

TAZEWELL, Va. — School officials in Tazewell County are concerned about a malfunctioning fire hydrant near Tazewell Middle School.

Without a working fire hydrant, the school doesn’t have adequate fire protection, according to School Superintendent Dr. Brenda Lawson.

Lawson said the issue was brought to the school board’s attention Monday by a concerned firefighter.

“First of all he was concerned that only one fire hydrant served Tazewell Elementary and the Career and Technical Center,” Lawson said. “He said at Tazewell High School we had four. Then the one at the middle school had its parts removed. It will not work.”

Lawson said school officials were still working Wednesday to determine if the fire hydrant was owned by the town of Tazewell, or the Tazewell County Public Service Authority.

“We are going to work with the town and county to ensure that these hydrants located on (school) campuses in the Tazewell area are adequate and workable,” Lawson said.

However, Tazewell Town Manager Jerry Wood said Wednesday that it was his understanding that the fire hydrant in question was actually owned by the school system. Wood said the school system installed the fire hydrant at Tazewell Middle School about 20 years ago.

“Those are the property of the school board,” Wood said. “So it was the school board’s responsibility to keep them up.”

However, Wood said the town of Tazewell will take immediate steps to work with the school board to repair the fire hydrant, and also will provide training to school system employees to help with the future upkeep of fire hydrants on school campuses.

Wood said a proposed boundary adjustment — which is still awaiting final circuit court approval — will bring Tazewell Middle School and the fire hydrant in question into the municipal limits of Tazewell.

“We will help them and we will train them,” Wood said. “Of course one thing they (the fire hydrants) will need is to be tested.”

— Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com