Due to the age and condition of the water lines in the Coyle peninsula, the Jefferson County Public Utility District has been restricting Quilcene Fire Rescue to all but one fire hydrant, with the other hydrants covered in plastic bags.

The PUD’s new general manager is not content to let the situation stand and has declared it a public-works emergency.

Because of the lack of house fires in the Coyle peninsula in the intervening years, the issue fell off of the radar of the PUD, the fire department and the public alike, but with a house fire in the area this spring, the PUD has agreed to fast-track repairs to the Coyle peninsula’s water system to give Quilcene firefighters access to more than just one fire hydrant.

PUD general manager Larry Dunbar asked his board of commissioners to declare the Coyle water system a public-works emergency after water treatment plant operator Eric Storey consulted with Quilcene fire chief Larry Karp about the water system.

Although the commissioners voted unanimously to approve Dunbar’s request June 19, PUD communications manager Will O’Donnell noted a timeline had yet to be established.

“Larry Dunbar wants us to move as fast as we can on this one, but construction contractors are very busy this time of year, so it’s hard to pin them down,” O’Donnell said.

He could, nonetheless, confirm that the estimated cost for the repairs, which he placed at $50,000, should be available within the existing 2018 budget. 

“Our priority is still to do it as soon as possible,” he said.

In the meantime, Karp received a letter from Dunbar, dated June 13, granting Quilcene Fire Rescue permission to use the other fire hydrants in Coyle, albeit with the request for those hydrants to remain bagged unless they are needed, to help discourage water thieves.

“You’ve apparently got folks pulling up to fill up their water tanks at these hydrants,” Karp said.

Following a house fire April 12, Karp had contacted Wayne King, the PUD commissioner whose district covers the Coyle peninsula, Quilcene, Port Ludlow and Gardiner, about the fire and the need to have unlimited access to fire hydrants. In turn, King informed Dunbar of the issues after Dunbar was hired as general manager in late April.

Karp explained the Coyle peninsula extends about 15 miles, with most of its residents concentrated in the southernmost mile and a half. He recalled how the development of what was then known as Churchill Estates decades ago yielded a subdivision of hundreds of housing lots, complete with their own privately-owned water system.

Karp and O’Donnell agreed the PUD took over this water system about half a dozen years ago, and in 2014, Karp recalled, Quilcene’s response to a house fire resulted in the use of one of those hydrants to refill a water tender.

“A day or so later, we were contacted by Jim Parker, who was the general manager of the PUD at the time,” Karp said. “He told us that one of the water mains had broken, but my firefighters know how to open and close the valves slowly.”

According to Karp, within the following week or two, Parker instructed Quilcene Fire Rescue not to use any of the hydrants other than the one at the base of the Churchill Estates water tank.

“But after the house fire this spring, we were asked why we didn’t just use the hydrant that was right around the corner,” Karp said. “The residents of the area were proactive in communicating their concerns to the PUD, and Mr. Dunbar was very receptive.”

While Karp did not receive a timeline either, he was told the PUD would “try to get this off the ground this year.”

Dunbar’s request to the commissioners for an emergency declaration stated, “Engineering design and repairs need to be undertaken immediately to return the fire hydrants to normal operation to avoid any possible threats to public safety (or) private property.”

O’Donnell cited Revised Code of Washington 39.04.280(1)(e), which reads, “Public works projects may be exempted from the usual requests for qualifications and bidding process in the event of an emergency, which includes unforeseen circumstances beyond the control of the District that either: (a) present a real, immediate threat to the proper performance of essential functions; or (b) will likely result in material loss or damage to property, bodily injury, or loss of life if immediate action is not taken.”