REDMOND A local businessman is convinced that a nonworking fire hydrant led to more damage than necessary at his furniture store this past summer.

But city officials maintain it caused only a minor delay and did not affect the outcome of the fire.

Just after 1 a.m. on July 17, a passerby reported flames coming from Wilson’s Furniture, 2071 S. Highway 97.

When fire crews arrived, the building was fully engulfed with flames, said City Manager Jo Anne Sutherland. Firefighters hooked up to a fire hydrant, but discovered that it didn’t work. Within two or three minutes, they were able to hook up to another hydrant, which was actually closer to the building, she said.

”We don’t think it had any affect on the fire and it didn’t change the outcome,” Sutherland said.

Fire crews could see the building burning as they left the station, more than a mile north, said Fire Chief Ron Oliver. ”It didn’t have any effect on the fire damage.”

”We tend not to agree with them,” said Arlen Rasmussen, owner of Wilson’s.

Rasmussen said the fire probably wouldn’t have spread to the bigger of the two buildings had water been there, and the fire would have been controlled much quicker.

”Water does that,” he said.

Rasmussen said the nonworking fire hydrant was about 10 feet south of his property line and that firefighters had to get permission from the Oregon Department of Transportation to run a hose to a hydrant across the highway and detour traffic.

”That would have taken them more than two or three minutes to do that,” he said.

”That’s not true,” Oliver said. The firefighter who hooked up to the first hydrant quickly realized it was dry and ran the hose across the highway that Redmond police had closed.

”It took no time at all,” Oliver said.

Firefighters also quickly hooked up to a second hydrant on the west side of the highway, not far from Wilson’s, he said.

ODOT checked with the fire department over the next several hours on the status of the highway’s closure, Oliver said, but ”they can’t tell us not to fight fire.”

”Upon later investigation, it turned out that the hydrant’s valve was turned off,” Sutherland said. It had probably been turned off during a construction project, she said.

”The critical question is how many more (nonworking) hydrants are out there?” Rasmussen asked. ”How much confidence can the public have in fire hydrants under jurisdiction of the city?”

”We certainly had a bad experience,” he said.

The city has looked at its procedures and does not consider this a citywide problem, just a fluke, Sutherland said.

Hydrants are inspected on a regular basis, as required by state law.

The ”accepted norm” for testing fire hydrants as established by the National Fire Protection Association, is three to five years, said Pat Dorning, the city’s water supervisor.

”Typically, we’re under three years,” Dorning said.

The city’s ”close to 900” hydrants are tested on a rotating basis each summer, with more than a third being tested each year, he said.

Investigators determined the fire started after a cigarette butt was discarded in a pile of mattresses outside the northeast corner of the two-story building.

Rasmussen said he can’t sue the city, but his insurance company can.

However, he said, Oregon law limits government liability to $50,000.

The damage to Wilson’s is ”right at $950,000” to the buildings and contents, he said.

This story also appeared in the Redmond Spokesman.