HOLIDAY, Fla. — A fire Thursday morning in Pasco County is raising concerns in the Holiday neighborhood where it happened. Some neighbors feel that there are not enough fire hydrants.
As fast as firefighters were working, they say there might have been less damage if they could have started putting more water on the flames faster.
“We’ve had this concern ever since we moved here,” said Chuck Belloise, who lives just three houses down from where a nearby house caught fire.
Belloise says for years he and his wife have been worried that could be their house going up in flames.
“We’ve noticed that the fire hydrants were spaced at the end of the street and the streets have got to be a third of a mile long,” he said.
As flames shot through the roof, Belloise noticed fire lines that had to be stretched 1,800 feet.
“And then they had to wait for the water to pressurize in the actual hose. So that took time,” he said.
In recent weeks, public safety leaders have raised concerns about Pasco County's ability to serve its rapidly growing population.
Sheriff Chris Nocco told Pasco commissioners he desperately needs more deputies. And just this week, fire rescue officials said they need more fire fighters and paramedics.
Aside from manpower, one of the other big concerns when it comes to Pasco County's rapid growth — infrastructure. It turns out the fire hydrant used to battle Thursday’s fire was in fact the closest one, a full third of a mile away.
Pasco Fire Rescue says the neighborhood where the Holiday fire took place is older and that firefighters train specifically for such scenarios where the nearest hydrant is farther away than the 1,000 feet of hose they carry on their trucks.
“We knew that that corner was going to be an extended lay,” Pasco Fire rescue Spokesman Corey Dierdorff said. “And we already had a plan in place.”
Belloise says a short time later he coincidentally ran into the same fire crew that had battled the blaze at his neighbor’s house at a nearby supermarket. He told them about video he had shot showing the length of the hose run and says they asked him for a copy.
He hopes the images will help convince Pasco officials to do what he thinks is needed to save time, property and possibly lives.
“I hope that they can take his video and use it, to the board of commissioners, and show them just exactly what happened,” Belloise said. “I’d like them to put a fire hydrant on the corner right there — 150 feet away from where the fire was. It’s crazy.”
Fortunately, no one was hurt in Thursday’s fire, which investigators say started outside the house but quickly made its way into the attic and spread through the roof.