Author: Erin Utter
The fire hydrant in front of the F building was accidentally hit by one of the maintenance staff’s vehicles on November 28th, Principal Francis Rojas said via email. Because the hydrant was sheared and water erupted from it, a main water valve had to be turned off to prevent more flooding, and the school was left without running water for approximately an hour.
The situation with the fire hydrant occurred at around 7:00 A.M, Rojas said, and the water was shut off from about 7:30 to 8:30 A.M. This event was also connected to the flooding of the restrooms and vending machines near the E building, Rojas said.
“It was one of our custodial carts; our custodian had an accident. I don’t know if it was because the steering got messed up, but he hit it and it knocked the hydrant off,” Rojas said. “It was an accident. I’m glad he’s okay.”
However, there was no running water for the hour, Rojas said. Thus, all of the bathrooms in the school were put out of order while one of the pipes was being fixed.
“[There was] no major damage other than repairing the hydrant that was sheared off and restoring the area where the asphalt had to be removed to access the underground pipes for repair,” Rojas said. “[Maintenance, Operations, and Transportation] staff worked hard to isolate the broken pipe and localize the water shut off to only that pipe.”
The school administration considered allowing students to use the pool bathroom, Security Guard Kymberlee Franks said.
“The toilets didn’t have enough water for students to use,” Franks said. “[Administration] considered shutting the school down.”
Repairs for the fire hydrant were completed as of Friday, December 1st, Rojas said, though there were noise complaints regarding the construction. Metal posts have also been added around the hydrant to prevent something similar from happening in the future.
“It’s ugly, but that’s the way to protect it,” Rojas said.