A Nesquehoning fire chief again shared his concerns over the lack of adequate fire hydrants at a private, gated community in the borough.

Nesquehoning Hose Company 1 fire chief John McArdle spoke to borough council recently about the need to get the ball rolling to help Lake Hauto Club start a discussion with the Lansford-Coaldale Joint Water Authority about the need for upgrading the fire hydrant lines.McArdle said he spoke with representatives from the Lake Hauto Club board of directors, as well as the water authority.The issue regarding the hydrants first came up last month when McArdle asked council about whether or not an agreement has been signed for the fire company to test Lake Hauto's five dry hydrants.At that meeting, McArdle said the dry hydrants are the main source of water for fighting fires in the development because the current fire hydrant lines are half the size needed to adequately provide enough water to firefighters during an emergency, while still providing water to the rest of the development.Last week, McArdle said, citing a newspaper article from 1985 regarding the hydrants, that the line was put in at least 50 years ago, when the development did not have nearly as many residents, nor as many large homes."Over the years the development has grown," McArdle said, "but infrastructure has not. My concern is the life and safety of the firemen. I'm worried because I don't want to have a firefighter or anyone hurt on my watch."He noted that in the borough of Nesquehoning, as well as in New Columbus, a 6-inch line was installed to feed the 87 hydrants in the town. Of those fire hydrants, 30 are primed to produce 1,500 gallons of water a minute; while over 40 will produce 1,000 gallons of water a minute.In Lake Hauto though, where a 3-inch line is installed, McArdle said that the last time he tested the line, the hydrants produced about 150 to 200 gallons of water a minute or enough to fill about a 2.5-inch hose."So it's basically like fighting a fire with a garden hose?" Councilwoman Mary Fox asked.McArdle said sort of, but noted that when a hydrant is opened on one end of the lake, residents on the other end lose all water to their homes.He noted that the dry hydrants give about 800 to 1,000 gallons a minute, but if all three Nesquehoning fire companies are called to a fire, as well as Rush Township and Hometown, problems will arise.And winter pretty much renders four of the five dry hydrants useless, he said."This is going to snowball one day and I think the citizens of Lake Hauto need to realize that there could be some prices to pay for not having an updated system," McArdle said.McArdle and council said the club is having a meeting in December and agreed that McArdle would attend to answer any of the club's questions regarding the hydrant lines and hopefully begin the process of opening a discussion with the water authority to get the system upgraded.He said that he brought the issue up to Nesquehoning Borough Council because fire protection is the responsibility of the borough, so he felt they should be the driving force to get the conversation started.An effort to reach the Lake Hauto Club board of directors for comment regarding the matter was unsuccessful as of deadline.