Mount Olive hydrants take a beating

MOUNT OLIVE — Glenn Holland, interim town manager for Mount Olive, said several of the town’s fire hydrants have been damaged in recent incidents.

“I know of at least four, and there might be a total of six within the last few months,” Holland said in an interview with Duplin Journal. “I know there have been at least three in the past 60 days.”

The most recent incident occurred on Jan. 13 when a truck belonging to N.C. Department of Transportation struck a hydrant located near the end of the access ramp from U.S. Highway 117 South to N.C. Highway 55. The truck was leaving after performing routine maintenance on equipment located in the area for DOT work. As the truck was leaving, it hit the hydrant and broke it off.

Repairing the hydrant proved challenging for Holland and the town crew.

“We didn’t have a replacement hydrant valve, so we couldn’t cut the hydrant off,” Holland said. “We tried to go around town to kill water on the line and we were unable to. We eventually began opening other hydrants to reduce pressure. We fixed it while it was still under pressure.”

Holland added the most time was spent reducing the water pressure.

“It took about six hours to get the pressure down where we could work on it, but only about an hour to fix it,” he said. “I don’t think anybody actually lost water. I think they just had low water pressure.”

Several businesses are located near the intersection of N.C. Highway 55 and U.S. Highway 117, including a Hardee’s restaurant.

Another hydrant was recently damaged when a farmer struck a hydrant while preparing land with a tractor. The tractor swung to avoid a light pole, and the disc hit the hydrant, pulling it out of the ground.

Ironically, another hydrant was damaged when it was hit by a fire truck. Holland blamed that accident on narrow roads built in town many years ago that don’t give much room for larger vehicles to maneuver.