New hydrants to aid firefighters in the Bugtussle area

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On Monday, Bugtssle volunteer firefighters David Weeks, right and Doyle Morris, second from right, watch as water pumped from new dry hydrants shoots from a fire hose to a pond. The hydrants will be used to fight fires on the east side of State Highway 69 near the Bugtussle area. Triad Transport granted access and several members of the community donated time and materials to the project. Also pictured left is Carl Dupuy, site manager for the BP Arkoma Region,Rep. Donnie Condit, D-McAlester and John Titsworth president of Triad Transport. Jeanne LeFlore

October 3, 2012

New hydrants to aid firefighters in the Bugtussle area

By Jeanne LeFlore Staff Writer The McAlester News-Capital Wed Oct 03, 2012, 07:45 PM CDT

McALESTER — Three new hydrants in the Bugtussle area will help area fire fighters access thousands of gallons of water to help fight blazes in the surrounding areas.

“The Bugtussle fire department and other local fire departments can now fill their tankers at a rate of 4,000 gallons every three minutes and two seconds,” said Doyle Morris a long time volunteer and former chief of the Bugtussle Fire Department.

Located west of State Highway 69, off State Highway 113, the three new dry fire hydrants was a joint effort project, said Rep. Donnie Condit, D-McAlester.

“Everybody pitched in to make this happen,” Condit said.

The project, valued at more than $30,000, involved several agencies who donated time, materials and labor, according to John Titsworth president of Triad Transport in McAlester.

“It’s taken about a year to get to this point,” Titsworth said.

Triad provided access to the land and a pond owned by the company.

“The new hydrants will provide water to the west side of State Highway 69,” Titsworth said. He said previously water had to brought from the east side of the highway.

Titsworth said he granted the right of way to the fire departments after he was contacted by Morris and Duane Franklin a consultant for the International Standards Organization .

Franklin said the hydrants will improve the ISO rankings for the local fire departments. And a better ranking can improve home owner insurance rates, Franklin said.

“I looked over the land and the proximity of the location just fit for the fire district,” Franklin said.

The dry hydrants will be used by the water tankers to siphon water from the pond, said Bryan Fuller Bugtussle fire chief.

“They are called dry hydrants because they have no water and a they have no water pressure,”Fuller said.

Titsworth said after he was contacted he wanted to grant access but he need help getting the work done so he contacted, Carl Dupuy, site manager for the BP Arkoma Region, Condit and Henry Moss of Moss Wrecker in McAlester.

Condit he just started making phone calls.

He said more than 630 tons of rock was donated by BP and used to build the access area. Tin-horn was provided by Triad and “Henry did all the dirt work and put in all the trenches,” Condit said. “He also hauled in all the gravel.”

The joint effort is appreciated by the firefighters, according to Doyle.

“Its great they all came together to help us,” he said.

Contact Jeanne LeFlore at jleflore@mcalesternews.com.

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