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Thread: Poor water pressure as fire destroys house on Pleasant View

  1. #1
    Member Neubs24's Avatar
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    Poor water pressure as fire destroys house on Pleasant View

    Water pressure has been a problem in this area of town for at least 20 years.

    https://buffalonews.com/2018/09/09/f...d-with-flames/

    Bowmansville firefighters spent Sunday morning beating back the flames that consumed a ranch-style home in Lancaster and extended to three cars in the driveway. They were parked near the garage where the fire seemed to originate.

    When the first units arrived soon after 8:42 a.m., they were told occupants were still inside 125 Pleasant View Drive, a ranch-style home in a neighborhood with big front yards and leafy streets. County records indicate it is the home of Richard and Laura Keil and their family.

    Volunteers eventually determined, however, that three occupants and two dogs got out safely, Bowmansville Chief Thomas J. Trzepacz said. The Lancaster Volunteer Ambulance Corps, however, took one occupant to a hospital for injuries the chief was unable to specify. He said the injuries were not life-threatening.

    Trzepacz said the fire was brought under control around 10:30 a.m. In the meantime, firefighters engaged in a search for an adequate hydrant to help quell the flames. A hydrant in front of the house quickly failed to deliver enough water. Hydrants on nearby Stutzman Road and Heritage Road did not help. The firefighters found their best alternative on Transit Road, about 2,000 feet away. The Erie County Water Authority was told of the problem, Trzepacz said.

    "We generally don't have issues," he said when asked how often hydrants fail. But he said that while a reliable hydrant certainly would have helped his team attack the blaze, "the fire was pretty out of control when we got there."

    "At all times we did have water on the fire," he said.

    At one point, Trzepacz had to order the firefighters who were battling flames from within the house, to get out. The roof was sagging and he did not like the threat posed to the volunteers as fire licked at the cars in the driveway. The teams then worked to drown the fire from the outside. Trzepacz figures the home was a total loss.

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    I’m glad there were no fatalities. This has been an ongoing concern, as this town continues to approve subdivisions, it falls to equip the infrastructure growth with these safety measures. They should put more pumping stations in. I know our water pressure is extremely low.

    I hope there is a follow up on the hydrants...

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    Member gorja's Avatar
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    The ECWA had an alert posted yesterday morning about a water main break in that area

    Georgia L Schlager

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    Member Neubs24's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gorja View Post
    The ECWA had an alert posted yesterday morning about a water main break in that area
    Apparently that was a false alarm. My parents live on Heritage and their water pressure is a joke and has been for a long time. I live further east by the high school and my pressure is much better.

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    Member gorja's Avatar
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    Wonder if this is in relation to the water pressure in that area.

    WHEREAS, the Erie County Water Authority (ECWA) has recommended to
    the Town that it replace the Pavement Road water main running between Walden Avenue and
    Genesee Street, within the Town of Lancaster,

    Georgia L Schlager

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    Hopefully somebody can answer this for me ? Should the line on Pleasantview been able to supply all the pumpers that were needed to fight the fire ?

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    Member Greg Sojka's Avatar
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    While our local 16+ year politician practices his dance moves for being an usher at Sabres games or playing air guitar with Hit and Run this resident has something to say. https://www.wkbw.com/news/town-of-la...s-over-weekend

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    Member gorja's Avatar
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    Don't you think if the councilman who lives down the street from the fire KNEW the water pressure in that area had taken such a nosedive, for the safety of his own family and neighbors, he would have been advocating for a water line replacement?

    Georgia L Schlager

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    Piss poor planning promotes piss poor performance.

    Grow the size of a town by how many over the last few decades. Your water pressure sucks, oh well, tie in 1,000 more houses. Your sewers can’t handle the flow, tie them into Cheektowaga, send your **** downstream and overwhelm them. that’s what Cheektowaga does to Buffalo , heavy storm , look out Hoyt lake, here comes more crap from the town. Alden can start adding a few thousand new homes now, just tie them into Lancaster’s lines

  10. #10
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    Boomtown or bust: Lancaster dealing with growing pains
    By Jane Kwiatkowski Radlich | Published 6:00 a.m. October 3, 2018

    It's not a secret that Lancaster is one of a handful of Buffalo suburbs whose population has boomed in recent decades, with a population that has grown by almost 50 percent since 1980.

    That growth has come with some of the problems that other communities have experienced, such as traffic volume and unexpected flooding.

    But Lancaster is dealing with an unexpected consequence: low water pressure.

    How low is it? It's so low that firefighters in Bowmansville had trouble putting out a house fire last month. It's so low that some residents say it is starting to affect quality-of-life issues.

    "We can't use the washing machine and shower at the same time," said Jennifer Tulumello, 46, who moved to Stutzman Road from Williamsville in 2002. "I can't take a shower while the kids are outside with the sprinkler. And it took us a week to fill the pool."

    The culprit is no mystery. Population estimates this year in the Town of Lancaster including the villages of Lancaster and Depew – topped 44,000, compared to 30,100 in 1980. New residential subdivisions total 58 this year alone.

    Residential construction peaked in 2015 with building permits issued for 444 units (single family, two-family, townhouse and apartment), according to the town's updated comprehensive plan. Driving that number was a whopping 216 permits issued for apartment-unit construction, town documents indicated.

    In all, the town issued 1,350 building permits for residential construction between 2011 and 2016.

    Officials have responded with an updated master plan and a one-year rezoning moratorium that was unanimously passed by the Town Board on Monday. Lancaster also started a townwide project to replace aging water lines in 2016, and it implemented drainage improvements in problem areas.

    Last month, a fire on Pleasantview Drive in Bowmansville caused extensive damage to an occupied ranch-style home because low pressure cut water supply and hampered firefighting efforts.

    At the same time, Bowmansville residents are fighting a proposed development of 25 single-family homes that would be “shoehorned” in the same neighborhood where the house fire occurred.

    “They kept allowing development after development without assessing the environmental impact on existing neighborhoods,” said Jeff Cappella, who lives on Argus Drive off Transit Road. “In the last month, people were flooded out of their homes. They have not conducted an assessment since 1960."

    “Low water pressure cut water to the aerial and contributed to creating such a large fire load," said Thomas J. Trzepacz, chief of the Bowmansville Volunteer Fire Association.

    Tulumello is a leader in the movement to prevent additional development in Bowmansville.

    “We knew when we moved in there was a concern, and now we’re fighting to maintain the historical character of Bowmansville,” said Tulumello. “Will the town continue to allow all this development without updating the infrastructure?”

    Traffic and flooding

    While Lancaster deals with an unusual effect of growth, it also is dealing with the more common issues: more traffic and flooding.

    Traffic woes are a common complaint from Lancaster residents traveling south on Transit Road, on Walden Avenue toward Depew, and on Harris Hill Road and Pleasantview Drive – as well as on Genesee Street in Bowmansville, where making a left-hand turn between 4 and 6 p.m. is a frustrating exercise, said Tulumello.

    Tulumello points to new residential developments near the high school between Pleasantview and Pavement as a reason for the increased traffic.

    Transit and Genesee are New York State-maintained roads. Erie County maintains Pleasantview and Harris Hill.

    A traffic study conducted in August by the Lancaster Police Department found less traffic on Stutzman when compared to traffic patterns in August 2009, according to Ronald Ruffino, the Council liaison working with the police. Findings indicated 5,159 vehicles traveled on Stutzman on Aug. 4, 2009 as compared to 4,248 on the same date in 2018, he said. He also noted Stutzman is commonly used as a cut-through street between Pleasantview and Genesee.

    That report does not ring true for some residents.

    "I see it every day," Tulumello said. "Many days we have a traffic jam on Stutzman.”

    Flooding also is a common occurrence in parts of town. The hamlet of Bowmansville is centered by the Genesee Street Bridge that spans a cataract of Ellicott Creek. The creek is prone to overflowing during periods of high rain, said resident Greg Sojka.

    In spring of 2018, Lancaster lawmakers approved $30,000 for an Ellicott Creek cleanup that included numerous fallen trees, branches and a beaver dam, said Sojka. Still, the Bowmansville fire hall is flooded on a regular basis, he said. “The fire company sandbags their buildings because floodwaters move up and into the fire hall," Sojka said.

    Additional development makes matters worse, Sojka pointed out. He said when new homes are built, tress and shrubs are cleared. Water that runs off roofs and driveways of developed property causes flash-flooding.

    That creates a situation where Lancaster has two seemingly opposite problems at the same time: too much water and not enough water.

    Aging water lines

    Some water lines in Bowmansville date to 1929, said Trzepacz, the Bowmansville fire chief who responded to the house fire at 125 Pleasantview Drive.

    “There’s a definite concern with the water pressure," he said. "It slowed our efforts, but I think the outcome would have been similar. The fire was large to start with; we were behind the eight ball right away.”

    A project to upgrade the aging water system is continuing, confirmed Town Engineer Edward Schiller. Water main breaks have plagued older pipes in Lancaster with breaks reported Monday at Schwartz Road and Broadway, Schwartz and Pavement Road.

    “We maintain water lines every year based on break history provided by the Erie County Water Authority,” Schiller said. “Every year there is some piece of line being worked on. The Pleasantview line is an older line and we are now looking to upsize the line because of increased usage.”

    An Erie County Water Authority spokesman could not be reached to comment on the low water pressure issues in Lancaster.

    Not every suburb experiencing rapid growth in recent decades is affected by water pressure concerns. Richard Donner, superintendent for the Water & Sewer Department in Wheatfield, said his office receives little complaints of low water pressure. The Niagara County Water District supplies Wheatfield’s water, Donner said.

    “During the summer we may receive one or two complaints during dry weather when crops are watered more often,” Donner said. “When the system was installed in the late '50s or early '60s, someone had the foresight to make the lines wider than required. Our average water line is 8 inches in diameter.”

    Lancaster Supervisor Johanna Coleman said she learned of the water line problem on Pleasantview after the fire.

    “We know the need is critical. The water lines are old and cannot sustain fire protection. We now want to add Pleasantview Road to the water line project and will amend the bond resolution so we can,” Coleman said.

    Coleman also pointed to the accumulation of sediment in the water lines that narrows the opening and can contribute to low water pressure.

    "Most of these old lines are filled with sediment, so what was a line six inches in diameter might not be six inches today," Coleman told the Town Board at a recent meeting.

    Schiller said water line work already completed in 2017 and early 2018 included Westwood Road and Schlemmer Road from Ransom to Townline roads. Going to bid for spring construction are Pavement from Walden Avenue to Genesee Street, and Stutzman from Pleasantview to Genesee Street.

    A 15-year resident of West Home Road believes the water lines in place cannot serve the neighborhood.

    “They placed water lines to serve the existing homes years ago. Now those lines are not adequate to serve the homes that have increased in number many times over,” said Charles Welch. “The water lines are old and cannot sustain fire protection.”

    On the morning of the fire, Welch rode his bicycle to the scene after he noticed heavy smoke in his neighborhood.

    “The aerial truck had knocked the fire down,” Welch recalled. “There were no flames visible and the pumper truck ran out of water. The fire started back up. Oh boy, did it start back up. A fireball shot 100 feet in the air.”

    A stone’s throw from the fire location is the 9.5-acre parcel that is proposed as the site for the development of 25 single-family homes. The parcel is bordered by East Home, Redlein and Stutzman roads, and a car dealership to the north on Genesee. A preliminary rendering of the development was submitted to the Lancaster Planning Board in July, but the plan was tabled pending more information from Natale Builders, the developer.

    “Within the next month we’ll have a refined plan to show residents. and we’ll make other changes as necessary,” said Robert Corrao, president of Natale. "We want to take some time to meet with neighbors. Hopefully we’ll come up with a plan that’s a good fit for the area.”

    https://buffalonews.com/2018/10/03/b...growing-pains/

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    This should concern all homeowners in our township. The current board members who have been on that board for over a decade do know that Lancaster has had a water pressure problem for decades. To act like this is new news, is disingenuous.

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    Member gorja's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by shortstuff View Post
    This should concern all homeowners in our township. The current board members who have been on that board for over a decade do know that Lancaster has had a water pressure problem for decades. To act like this is new news, is disingenuous.
    Which town board members acted like low water pressure was new news?

    Georgia L Schlager

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    Member gorja's Avatar
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    One commenter hinted that Lancaster politicians were looking out for themselves by having water main breaks.
    Now, what kind of sense does that make?

    Water main breaks on Broadway and Schwartz.
    Water main breaks on Westwood and Pavement.
    Over development!
    Are our elected Lancaster politicians looking out for Lancaster or themselves?
    Just wait and see your taxes when there is nothing left to develop or your taxes if they were to bond to replace every waterline in the town

    Georgia L Schlager

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    I understand the concerns over decaying infrastructure, water, sewers, bridges, roads etc. but the way it’s covered people seem to get the impression it all has to be repaired at once. In addition to being prohibitively expensive, it’d be a logistical nightmare. Infrastructure is getting repaired, updated, modernized every year. It gets taken care of.

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    Member mark blazejewski's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gorja View Post
    One commenter hinted that Lancaster politicians were looking out for themselves by having water main breaks.
    Now, what kind of sense does that make?

    Just wait and see your taxes when there is nothing left to develop or your taxes if they were to bond to replace every waterline in the town
    Gorja, I understand what you are saying, but the Town Council did have a petition from the Pleasant View-Stutzman area regarding the water pressure issue in 2017, and apparently nothing was done.

    I understand that Councilman Extraordinaire and Supervisor Self-Elect Ruffino related that the petition was "misplaced." A petition relating citizen safety concerns misplaced? Seriously?

    (Perhaps the 2017 safety issue petition resides in the same "Dead Political Letter" graveyard as his self-boasting 2017 campaign letter claiming that he is above politics?)

    If Ruffino's comments are accurate, I hope Supervisor Coleman's recent observation "Ron, with all due respect, you don't know what your talking about" is more applicable, and that the remaining Council Members hold safety concerns more seriously, and take the appropriate care of such documents.

    I'm sorry, but IMHO, the "misplaced" comment is condescending, dismissive, and potentially invites the endangerment of the lives of the impacted residents.

    IF growth and development are to continue, tax money spent in the interests of public safety is always a well-applied necessity, IMHO.
    Last edited by mark blazejewski; October 3rd, 2018 at 09:45 PM.

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