Waterline upgrades give Granite Shoals homes better fire protection

Granite Shoals is installing new waterlines along Hill Way Drive on the city's east side, allowing for fire hydrants that could not be placed on the previous, smaller lines. Staff photo by Dakota Morrissiey

Work is nearly done on extensive waterline upgrades along Hill Way Drive, which will provide fire hydrant access to about 60 homes that didn’t have it before.

“Every second counts on a structure fire,” Granite Shoals Fire Chief Tim Campbell told DailyTrib.com.

He said the last structure fire in the Valley View area required 3,500 feet of hose from three different vehicles to extinguish.

“We show up there with 1,000 gallons in an engine, and that only lasts a matter of minutes,” he explained. “Then, you’re waiting on additional engines and tenders (water tank trucks) to continue fighting the fire. For us to be able to grab a hydrant and not have to do tanker shuttles is very valuable.”

The pipe project is part of a $600,000 roadwork effort ongoing since early 2022. Hill Way and Kings Circle drives are both scheduled to be repaved as soon as possible, but that can’t happen until new waterlines are installed and extensive drainage work is completed. The city put the two roads on its high-priority list for improvements based on damage and traffic count.

Hill Way Drive is about a third of a mile long and nestled between Woodland Hills Drive and Valley View Lane on the far east side of the city. Contractors are nearly done extending 6-inch waterlines from Woodland Hills to Valley View to provide the necessary plumbing to install four fire hydrants on Hill Way. The previous 2-inch fire line wasn’t big enough for hydrants per state law.

“Maybe by next week, the main line will be on and fire hydrants will be active,” Granite Shoals Superintendent of Utilities Josh Hisey told DailyTrib.com on Wednesday, Aug. 2. “Down the line after paving, in the next fiscal year, we’ll start to move north on Valley View and continue adding hydrants.”

If plans for extending 6-inch lines along Valley View go through, another 150 homes will have quick access to fire protection.

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