2024 ANNUAL REPORT - Final

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EMERGENCY SERVICES

Frederick County Fire and Rescue Rural Water Supply Efforts

While many areas in Frederick County have fire hydrants connected to a municipal water system to support firefighting, many rural regions do not. As a result, our firefighting tactics must be flexible and adaptable to handle both scenarios. In areas without fire hydrants, we rely on rural water supply operations to provide the necessary water for firefighting. What is the difference in rural water supply operations? In rural water supply operations, the primary water source is carried by large-capacity tankers, which typically hold 3,000 gallons or more of water, compared to the 1,000 gallons carried by a standard fire engine. These tankers are automatically dispatched to areas without fire hydrants, providing initial firefighting support until a more reliable water source, such as ponds, rivers, streams, dry hydrants, cisterns, or nearby hydrants, can be accessed. In rural settings, where water sources are often distant, tankers are used to shuttle water from these sources to the fire scene. What is the difference between a regular fire hydrant I see along the street and a dry fire hydrant? Regular fire hydrants are connected to the municipal water system and always have water supplying them though it usually resides below the grounds frost line to prevent freezing. Once these fire hydrants are opened, they receive a continuous water supply of various pressures from the municipal water supply. A dry fire hydrant is a non pressurized pipe system permanently installed in water sources such as ponds, rivers, or streams that permits the withdrawal of water by drafting with a fire truck to provide a reliable water source close to the incident scene for fire extinguishment. Frederick County Fire/Rescue’s mission regarding rural water supply operations is to provide rapid, efficient, expandable, and uninterrupted water supply to the non-hydrant areas of the County with 1,000 gallons per minute up to a total of 50,000 gallons.

In 2024, Frederick County Fire/Rescue dedicated significant time and effort to enhancing its ability to provide water for fire suppression in rural areas. This included ongoing planning for the installation of 30,000-gallon cisterns in the Sabillasville area, as well as the continued development of a similar cistern in the Wolfsville area. Additionally, several dry-hydrants that had become inoperable were repaired, and a regional multi-company water supply drill was held at New Midway Volunteer Fire Company, focusing on transitioning from pump-off to folding tank operations. In the spring, all rural water supply sites in

Frederick County were tested and verified, with updates made to the database by adding new sites and removing those that were no longer accessible or useful. This annual spring verification process ensures that the systems remain in optimal working condition for the future. Funding has been approved in the Capital Improvement Projects budget to enhance rural water infrastructure and equipment in the coming fiscal year. This includes bi-annual installation of 30,000-gallon cisterns in remote areas, adding and maintaining dry hydrants, and acquiring equipment to improve tanker shuttle operations.

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