Crews find hydrants not working during Ohio fire

Associated Press

WOODLAWN, Ohio

Fire officials say they had trouble fighting a weekend blaze that displaced 18 families at a Cincinnati-area apartment complex because nearby hydrants were not working properly.

The fire chief in suburban Woodlawn tells The Cincinnati Enquirer the hydrants were shut off as a private contractor repaired a break in a water main, and officials suspect the hydrants were not properly turned on again.

Fire Chief Rick Mynatt says normal water pressure is 3,000 gallons a minute, but the hydrants at the 20-building apartment complex provided only 50 gallons a minute during the fire Sunday night.

Firefighters used water brought on trucks and connected a water supply from a nearby grocery store to put out the blaze.

The cause of the fire wasn’t immediately clear.