Rural areas between Enfield and Duntroon will have greater fire protection after 20 fire hydrants are installed this winter along the North Otago Irrigation Company's scheme, making available pressurised water to fill tankers.
The project, to be undertaken during the scheme's winter shut-down, is a joint one between the company and Waitaki Rural Fire Authority aimed at overcoming the difficulty of getting water to fight fires.
The rural fire service uses water tankers from Weston, Windsor and Duntroon to fight fires in the area of the irrigation scheme. It can take up to 40 minutes to refill a tanker, during which a fire could completely destroy a property.
The strategically placed fire hydrants in the pressurised irrigation system will refill tankers within seconds.
Waitaki principal rural fire officer Steve Couper said the hydrants would be of huge benefit to the Fire Service, the local area and ultimately the wider community.
"If we can get a water supply that has good access, a safe area to fill, a very good supply pressure and at regular intervals in the Enfield to Duntroon area, this will help us immensely in our firefighting," he said.
The hydrants would be installed starting with the most critical high-risk areas and working down the list as funding was made available.
Irrigation company operations manager Phill Dodds said he knew the importance of a quick response and the benefit of the hydrants.
"The volumes of water the Fire Service could take to fight a fire is relatively minor, compared to the volumes the company pumps through its infrastructure every day from the Waitaki River," he said.
There were 30 million litres of irrigation water in its head pond and this could be replenished at 4000 litres a second.
"We could continuously load fire appliances at a rate of one every 2.5 seconds ... and still keep the head pond full."
