An open-records investigation into broken fire hydrants in Lubbock revealed the City’s process for identifying and repairing the busted hydrants.

Lubbock resident Patricia Gruber said a hydrant on her block was destroyed by a construction crew in the fall.

“Nobody started fixing it, I started getting nervous,” Gruber said.

After calling multiple city offices, and the Lubbock Fire Department, Gruber said it was months before the hydrant was fixed.

“I don’t want people to be alarmed if they have a fire hydrant in their front yard and go ‘Oh man. This fire hydrant’s out of service. What’s the fire department going to do?'” said LFR Division Chief Steve Holland.

Holland said residents need not worry about broken hydrants.

“We still have enough hose to lay out and get to your house,” Holland said. “One being out of service is not that critical. We still have the capability to get in there and take care of business.”

Holland explained that spring is the time of year when most of the broken hydrants are discovered, because fire crews actively search for leaks and ailments.

“To me, it’s not that much different than the faucet at your house,” Holland mentioned. “If you have a faucet and you don’t turn it on for a year, then you go in there and turn that faucet on to actually make sure you have water there, and you do but then you notice that, ‘Okay over that period of a year, something’s happening now.’ You shut it off and you still have a slow drip.”

“The last thing they want to do is go to a fire and have inoperable fire hydrants,” stated Wood Franklin, Director of Public Works for the City of Lubbock.

Franklin explained the multi-tier priority system that the water department uses to assign maintenance crews to repair hydrants with problems.

“We keep a spreadsheet, so we do have a log,” Franklin said.

“(The repairs are) based on their priority. If it’s a priority 1 we try to get it within 10 days to 2 weeks, try to get that taken care of,” he said.

“Quite honestly, if it’s just a hydrant that has a minor leak on it, and the fire hydrant itself is operable… it may be 2 months before we get to it,” Franklin told EverythingLubbock.com.

Franklin and Holland cited “redundancy” in the system, meaning that there are other nearby hydrants that can handle the responsibilities with fire fighters.

“If a hydrant is out of service and it’s the only one that services that building, we repair it as quickly as possible,” Franklin added.

According to data provided by the City of Lubbock, there were 6,359 hydrants in the city as of January 1, 2017. In a March email obtained through an open records request, Franklin told a city employee 45 of the city’s hydrants were listed as “priority 1.”

“These are black bagged but we have identified a better solution with a black ring on the steamer nozzle,” Franklin wrote. He said 10 hydrants were on the “priority 2” list.

“These need repairs but are in service and can be used for firefighting,” Franklin wrote.

“You see one that’s near you, and you want it fixed, start calling,” Gruber said. After moving to Lubbock in the 1980’s with her husband, and retiring, she said she has a harder time moving around. The fact that the hydrant closest to her home was broken worried her because she was concerned she would not have enough time to get out of her home in an emergency.

“I don’t need one right in front of my house, I don’t care, on the corner is fine,” Gruber said. “But there should be one you can see at least, one that’s working. I’ve seen a lot around the city that don’t have their caps on, that aren’t working.”

For more information, watch the accompanying video.