Dear Editor,
Four years ago a nineteen year old man set fire to an abandoned house on South Foster Street. The fire spread to the next door residence resulting in the death of a 3 year old girl.
It was a terrible loss for her family, a shock to the neighborhood and a wake-up call about our aging water infrastructure. It is a serious matter when fire hydrants don’t work!
At the time of the Foster Avenue fire, WEWS reported “Lt. Daniel Crow confirmed that the fire hydrant directly across from the houses that caught fire did not have adequate flow to run a fire hose line, but the trucks had a supply of water for the initial attack and were able to connect to a hydrant down the street, at the corner, to fight the fire.”
Eric Miller, a Mansfield resident, has held a long-time interest in our aging water infrastructure. He organized a group of like-minded citizens into what became known as The Mansfield Water Main Initiative.
Working with the City Engineer and the water and fire departments they have identified hundreds of hydrants lacking the high water pressure needed to fight fires.
When you see the city water department digging up the streets around town, it is usually because of a broken water main, the conduit that supplies water to our homes, businesses and fire hydrants. Each of those breaks cost the city money and effected residents require smartphone apps to learn about health hazards and boil alerts.
At the urging of the initiative and others, the City Council placed a levy on this November’s ballot for a .25% income tax to be used exclusively for water main replacements. Go to the website mansfieldwatermaininitiative.com for detailed information.
Please vote for this ¼ penny levy.
Gary Mion
Mansfield, Ohio