Exclusive: Broken hydrant found during Winter Springs house fire

Seminole County is now sending water tankers until the city finishes inspecting its hydrants, which will take three to five months.

When the Seminole County Fire Department got a call about flames coming out of the dryer at a house on Cypress Lane in Winter Springs Feb. 20, the fire department tried connecting to the nearest fire hydrant. But the hydrant didn’t work.

The hydrant’s “stem,” which controls the flow of water, was “free-spinning, thus delaying our suppression operations,” wrote Seminole County Fire Marshall Christina Diaz in an email obtained by Oviedo Community News. That hydrant – the third dysfunctional one discovered in as many weeks in Winter Springs – has since been fixed.

“The fire was contained already and luckily the hydrant issue did not adversely impact the outcome,” Seminole County Fire Department spokesperson Doreen Overstreet said. “Out of an abundance of caution, the Seminole County Fire Department is automatically deploying a water tender (aka a water tanker) to all calls for structure fires within the City of Winter Springs. This response will continue until such time as credible evidence (is presented) that the hydrant inspection has been resolved.”

The Winter Springs City Commission on Monday approved spending more than $153,000 to have an engineering firm and a contractor inspect all 1,200 fire hydrants in the city. But records obtained by Oviedo Community News show city officials were first made aware of the issue as early as 2021. 

Assistant Chief Diaz emailed Winter Springs Utilities Director Bilal Iftikhar in July of 2023, and then followed up in August.

“I have been attempting to reach City staff since 2021 with no successful responses. We originally sent out a certified letter in June 2021 (included) and additionally followed up with an email to the City as attached above,” Diaz wrote. “Since I still have not received a response to my most recent email below (7/21/23), I am attempting to ensure effective communication between our departments.”

Iftikhar — who was hired in April of 2023 — responded that he would try to get the information from consultants back to the fire department. Two more months passed before Diaz tried again to reach out, receiving the following reply: “I’ve ben (sic) working on it, we do not have in house staff that can perform such testing,” Iftikhar wrote. “We are in the process of hiring an outside firm. Thank you for your patience.”

Iftikhar declined to do an interview for this story. Interim City Manager Phil Hursh was copied on the emails. 

Mayor Kevin McCann said he wasn’t aware that the issue went back that far. 

“I have full faith and trust in Seminole County Fire Department to do what’s necessary for the residents of Seminole County, including Winter Springs,” McCann said. “If they deem it necessary to do that [send water tankers] until necessary, I understand their concern.” 

Iftikhar was asked about why the city didn’t already have the data the county was asking for at Monday’s meeting. 

“I’m going to ask kind of the elephant in the room question: Why don’t we have it? We have the 1,200 (hydrants), why don’t we have the data?” Commissioner Cade Resnick asked. 

“That, again, I cannot answer that question,” Iftikhar said. “I can only tell you where we are going from there. And where we are going is, yes, we need all the data. We have the hydraulic model that [Carollo Engineers, Inc, a water engineering consultant that works with the city] created. But we do not have information about each fire hydrant in the details that we should.”

The move comes after two fire hydrants failed back-to-back Feb. 12, which caused brown water for residents in the Oak Forest neighborhood. It also garnered the attention of the Seminole County Commission and several residents.

“We know we’ve had a couple of these fail,” McCann said at Monday’s meeting. “We want to ensure that when a resident needs a fire hydrant to be working, they work. We really need to get this done, get it done quickly, get back on track and make sure that when those that serve us in the fire department reach for a piece of equipment, that it’s going to work.”

City officials plan to post signs for residents when Carollo engineers and subconsultant Hydromax are in a neighborhood doing testing. Opening the hydrants does not cause an intrusion into the water system, so a boil water notice should not be needed if things go according to plan.

But changes in water flow can disturb iron deposits in the pipe and lead to brown water. Officials wrote that if you get discolored water, run your cold water faucets until it runs clear.

“Are you aware of any time when this process has created or caused a boil water notice?” Commissioner Rob Elliott asked Carollo engineer Meera McKie. 

“No, because we are not adding anything into the system. We’re exercising the current hydrants and the valves in place,” McKie said. “So again, with some reverse flow directions anything on the pipes already there could cause some discoloration. But nothing that would trigger a boil water in terms of quality. But we’re going to be keeping an eye on that to ensure we’re not out of compliance. If there’s a need to, we will obviously enact one. But this should not cause a boil water notice.”

The project will take three to five months to complete. The city will also be inspecting private fire hydrants in gated communities. 

In addition to the testing, the hydrants will all be cleaned and given a two-tone paint scheme to indicate what kind of water pressure is available in an emergency. Winter Springs – like the cities of Altamonte Springs and Casselberry – does not operate its own fire department, and instead contracts with Seminole County to provide fire rescue. As part of the contract, Seminole County will also get Geographic Information System (GIS) data of all the hydrants.

The project also includes gathering information on how many hydrants may need to be replaced, as well as information on where to get parts, if needed. 

In addition, during Monday’s City Commission meeting, the city:

1. Initially approved a contract to Zulu Marine Services Inc. to remove sediment from Sheoah Creek, Gee Creek, Howell Creek and Bear Creek. However, a representative from GRSC spoke to the commission, pointing out that his bid was $125,000 less than Zulu’s bid. Commissioners undid the vote and asked for staff and the companies to make a presentation at the next city meeting. 
2. Authorized city staff to begin negotiations with Kimley Horn to develop a stormwater improvement plan over the next year. Kimley Horn was the only company that submitted a bid to handle the project, even after city officials extended the deadline. The city wants to develop a bigger master plan to prevent flooding in Winter Springs after storms. The city has Lake Jesup on one side and Howell Creek, Gee Creek, No Name Creek and a portion of Sweetwater Creek running through. The city not only wants a master plan, but wants information on what needs to be done with stormwater fees to pay for needed improvements.
3. Agreed to spend about $1 million with Middlesex Paving LLC to resurface five roads, two trails and a parking lot in 2024this coming year. The money is coming from the additional penny sales tax paid in Seminole County. Check here for the full list of roads.