Fire hydrants being installed at the intersection of Hackney Dr. and DeMay St. in RiverviewBesides fighting fires, saving lives and working 24-hour shifts, the staff of the Hillsborough Fire Department, alongside staff of Hillsborough’s Water Resource Services, works to make sure communities are up to code through the Fire Flow Deficiency Master Program, currently ensuring Riverview’s safety needs.

Having started in 2006, the Fire Flow Deficiency Master Program, also known as the Fire Flow Protection Project, was started “to address areas needing additional hydrants to support fire fighting,” stated Project Manger of WRS Mark Dillman. Equipped with an annual reserve of $2,050,000, the program was recently infiltrated in the Riverview area covering the proximity that lies south as well as the east of the Alafia River with Formby St. to the west and Hackney Dr. to the north. With the insertion of 41 fire hydrants within the designated area, the project is expect to cost approximately $450,000, with Riverview only being a fraction of the project.

With WRS’s planning department and the County’s Fire Department monitoring areas of needed renovation, the agencies have endorsed projects throughout the County since its inception. Besides the introduction of new fire hydrants, the program also institutes the upgrade of a water main if the hydrant lacks the correct pipe to support it. While being brought up to code and ensuring measures of safety for residents, the new fire hydrants may also bring financial breaks as well. “Other than the obvious ability to get water on a fire, most homeowner insurance policies will lower the cost of insurance when a hydrant is within certain distance of the insured home. Residents would have to check with their respective insurance companies,” mentioned Dillman.

Another project taking place under the program involves the city of Brandon. Roughly 12 fire hydrants will be placed within the vicinity north of Jersey Ave., east of Seffner Valrico Rd., south of Clay Ave. and west of Kingsway Rd., costing around $85,000. The project is expected to begin in July with both it and the Riverview project coming to completion in October.

For more information, call 272-5977, ext. 43329 or go to www.hillsboroughcounty.org/water/.

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Carisa Biesecker
Carisa is a Senior News Reporter and Assistant Editor at the Osprey Observer. When she's not at work, she continues to write, working on future projects; hangs out with friends and family, her best friend (aka her husband) and her four dogs.