Legislators Keep Promise
and Pass Fire Hydrant
Bill
It took twelve years but
finally legislators
yesterday voted to make
fire hydrants a "public
good", paving the way
for the Cuerpo de
Bomberos - fire
department - to take
over the maintenance and
location of the hydrants
around the country.
Bomberos say that some
10.000 fire hydrants are
needed around the
country, double of the
existing, and that all
should be working. And
estimate is that less
than half of the 5.000
installed hydrants are
not working due to lack
of maintenance, no
connection to the water
system or low to no
water pressure.
Bomberos yesterday led a
caravan of fire trucks
from La Sabana park to
the Asemblea Legislativa
(Legislative Assembly)
to pressure legislators
to make good on the
promise made last week
that the bill would be
passed on Monday.
"It's almost an national
emergency, were sending
bomberos into a war
without weapons", said
legislator Fernando
Sánchez of the ruling
party the Partido
Liberación Nacional (PLN).
Under the bill, which
requires second reading
for it to become law, an
non-determined amount
will be added to each
water utility bill to
pay for the maintenace
of the fire hydrants.
The rate, a small tax,
to be charged to
consumers will be set
bythe Autoridad
Reguladora de Servicios
Públicos (Aresep) after
it holds its public
hearings.
The bill now also gives
the Cuerop de Bomberos
the authority to decide
the location of the fire
hydrants.
Héctor Chaves of the
Bomberos says that more
than a 1.000 homes a
year are destroyed
because of a lack of
fire hydrants and when
there is one nearby,
good chance it is not
working. Chaves added
that using two tanker
trucks containing a
thousands gallons of
water are what is
currently used to supply
the hoses.
However, the tanker
supply lasts only
minutes and firefighters
have to scramble to
locate a water source,
like a nearby river or
call in other trucks for
assistance.
The problem with the
fire hydrants can be
placed on the shoulders
of the state insurance
monopoly - the Instituto
Costarricense de Seguros
(INS) - which has been
in charging of funding
the fire department as
well as funding the
installation and
maintenance of the
hydrants.
Former Bomberos
director, Alvaro
Escalante, said the
problem dates back to
the 1980's when the INS
could not afford the
pace of population
growth and as such the
location and maintenance
of hydrants fell on the
shoulders of the local
municipalities and
developers without any
control or consultation
from the Cuerpo de
Bomberos.
The bill is expected to
be passed in second
reading by the end of
this week.
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