It's Not A Problem! Fire Trucks and Hoses Are Never Far Away!

 

Following the Fire Department's monthly report at the beginning of last week's so-called SAFETY Committee meeting -- the remainder of which had everything to do with parking -- I asked a question of the Fire Department representative regarding out of service hydrants.  But Committee head Henry Hadddad decided that he was the most qualified person to answer my question.  "I think I can answer that one," he started with.  Before Henry could get much further, I interrupted him. "Can I hear somebody from the Fire Department respond to my question?  I didn't ask you a question, Henry."  Committee member Claire Cousin, seated at the table with Haddad and 2 people both from HPD and HFD, seemed to sympathize with my plight.  While Henry was responding to me, she said, "He seems to be willing to answer the question."  

Out of service for years, and not a concern
to HPD, HFD, CEO, DPW or Galvan.  But we 
got a new sidewalk along the new vacant lot!

The "he" Claire referred to was longtime HFD volunteer and HPD employee Nick Pierro, who had just given the Fire Department report.  (Henry did not introduce him by name.)  It's true: a fire department volunteer (not an employee, not the Chief, not the Commissioner) gave the monthly Fire Department report.  Someone who taxpayers pay to police the city read the Hudson Fire Department report, not the Hudson Police Department report (that came later from Chief Franklin, not a volunteer).  Seated next to Pierro was someone who didn't have a word to say but, presumably, was associated with the Fire Department.  Or the Police Department.  Or both. Last month's Fire report was not given by Nicholas Pierro but by Fire Chief Shawn Hoffman (who did not introduce himself by name or rank nor did Henry introduce by name or rank). It seems to be a rotating cast, usually unintroduced.

Members of the SAFETY Committee, from HPD and HFD.

Here is exactly what Nick Pierro began with after Henry Haddad allowed him to answer my question:  "First of all, if there's a building on fire, we would not use the fire hydrant directly in front of the building.  That's actually Firefighting 101."

If you notice an OUT OF SERVICE tag on -- or a black plastic bag covering -- the once useful fire hydrant nearest your residence, you need not worry about a thing.  Ever.  Not now, and certainly not in 5 years if nothing changes.  That's because Hudson Fire Department volunteers and employees are not concerned, and therefore you shouldn't be either.  Not for one month or ten years.  This is true even if you live in a large apartment building whose skeleton is made of wood.  The Hudson Fire Department has no need for that hydrant, even if it were to function properly in case your house or apartment building were to catch fire.  They are perfectly aware of all of the city's out of service hydrants, and they've got a plan B just in case your life and property are in danger.  They are prepared to not use certain hydrants.  Remember, too, that there are ONLY TEN OF THEM that are out of service!  Maybe more!

One of three hydrants in the 200 block of State.
This one, in the middle, has been out of service
(unbagged!) for years.  It will never be needed.
Presumably, then, it has never been needed.

A few years ago, the Hudson Fire Department spent hundreds of thousands of city revenue (possibly including grant money) on a new boat for Hudson River rescues (not fires).  But out of service fire hydrants are not a concern of theirs.   Hmmm....

"Firefighting 101"!

During this past Monday's Code & Infrastructure Committee meeting (with, yet again, no one from the Code Enforcement Department in attendance!), member (not chair) Henry Haddad asked DPW Superintendent Rob Perry a strangely worded question about out of service fire hydrants:  "The number [of hydrants] that are non-functioning, are those on your list?"  Neither Haddad nor Perry offered any explanation as to what Perry's "list" was.  (List of what?)  Perry, with his arms crossed across his chest, did his best to not answer Haddad's question or mention anything about a "list."  He did offer and answer this (rhetorical?) question, though, saying:  "How many hydrants are out of service?  Ten?  I mean, there's 250 city-wide, so."  (Don't you just love that our $125,000 DPW Superintendent admits he doesn't even know how many out of service fire hydrants we have!  He's guessing!)  Then Perry added, abruptly interrupting the committee chairman, "I spoke with the Fire Department, and they didn't seem concerned, so.  The hydrants are there for them.  So."  In other words, it's not DPW's problem or issue to ever be concerned about. Henry Haddad and out of service fellow committee member who has likely lived in Greenport for the past ten years or more, Dewan Sarowar, (via phone) agreed:  If neither DPW nor the Fire Department are concerned about any out of service hydrants, how many there are or how long they remain out of service, then they themselves are not concerned with the issue, either.   In fact, there is no issue at all, let alone one to be concerned about.  

The message coming from the Fire Department, DPW Superintendent Rob Perry, as well as building fire experts Henry Haddad, Dewan Sarowar and others has been crystal clear for years: No city residents should complain, be concerned about or ask questions about out of service hydrants, even if they've been covered in a series of plastic bags for 5 or 10 years in front of or close to their house or apartment building.  The dead hydrants won't be fixed or replaced, so shut the hell up, find an issue that matters and go whine to someone else about it.  The fire hydrant nearest your house or apartment building will never be needed, whether it works or not, especially if it is directly in front of your house or apartment building.  Got it?

Does the fire hydrant pictured below look properly maintained?  When do you suppose it was last tested to make sure it will offer high pressure water if needed to extinguish a nearby building or two going up in flames, possibly in strong wind gusts like we had yesterday all day?  When, if ever, will it be repainted?   Isn't a hotel going to be opening up across the street from it soon?  Is our Fire Chief proud of this hydrant?  Would you be if you were the Hudson Fire Chief?

600 block of Union Street

If the issue of fire prevention wasn't such a serious one, it would be easy to laugh about all of this.  The same issue -- out of service fire hydrants -- is discussed within 7 days at two separate meetings of two separate committees by two different departments, represented by a department head and a volunteer.   One group goes by the name of the SAFETY Committee, where 90% of the duration of their meetings is spent going back and forth about parking matters that have nothing to do with safety.  The other is a committee with the word CODE in the title but where no one from the Code Department is ever in attendance at meetings and, surprise surprise, code issues are never raised or discussed.  It's worth noting that one of the duties of the head Code Enforcement Officer is to respond to all fires that the Fire Department responds to.  One wonders what Nick Fox's take on out of service fire hydrants is, that is, if he has any feelings at all about the issue.  How would anyone know?

A few weeks after 16 inches of snow fell.
Is it out of service?  Is it ready in case the house 
in the background catches fire?  Would HFD 
ever need to use that fire hydrant?  (Allen Street)

Out of service for years. Not needed. Leave it there!
Don't unbury it.  Drivers do not need to see it.

A few years ago at an informal Common Council meeting (pre-committee days during the glory years of Tom Depietro), I asked a Fire Department representative essentially the same question I asked HFD last week: Do you have any concern about the several out of service fire hydrants I have been noticing, particularly the one on 4th Street at Prison Alley that had been out of service and covered in a series of black plastic bags for several years?  I was told then (as was the Common Council), much like I was told last week, that there were other functioning fire hydrants near that out of service hydrant that could be utilized in a fire, and that the general issue of out of service fire hydrants was DPW's responsibility, not the Fire Department's.  

The message is always crystal clear, at least to me, when it comes to out of service fire hydrants in downtown Hudson:  Something is wrong at City Hall (if DPW, HPD, HFD and CEO are even part of City Hall)!

Do you suppose it's possible that our head Code Enforcement Officer, following an inspection at 76 North 7th Street, for example, would tell Galvan that 10 of the 75 smoke detectors in their apartment building were found to be either out of service or missing but that it wasn't a problem and there was no need to fix or replace any of them, assuring them that the other functioning detectors and alarms in the building would alert tenants in case of a fire?  Do you suppose the CEO would give an apartment building a passing grade on an inspection report if they were to come across any out of service or missing fire alarms or fire extinguishers?  If you follow Nick Pierro's reasoning regarding out of service fire hydrants, I think the answer to both of these hypothetical questions is a loud and clear YES.  For what is the difference between a FIRE HYDRANT and a smoke alarm or a FIRE EXTINGUISHER in preventing and putting out building fires?  THERE IS NO DIFFFERENCE, because they all serve the same purpose!  I'm thinking that a professor teaching a Firefighting 101 class, unlike Nick Pierro, Rob Perry or Henry Haddad, would agree 100% with me, don't you?

Is it time for someone of authority from OUTSIDE OF HUDSON to inspect all of the city's fire hydrants and hand the mayor the inspection report (with a grade) so that he can read it, discuss it with Rob Perry and Nick Pierro, then, showing his devotion to transparency, post it to the city's website?  Call me nutty, but if I'm the mayor of the City of Hudson, I'd certainly want to be kept updated on where all of the city's out of service fire hydrants are located, how many there are, why they are out of service, how long they have been out of service and what Rob Perry is going to do to get ALL of them back in service as quickly as possible.  Because no one should own or live in a house or an apartment building near an out of service fire hydrant (or in a city full of them).  Ever.  And an out of service fire hydrant on a sidewalk is nothing more than a useless, ugly hunk of metal -- almost always rusted and paint-chipped -- serving no real or potential positive purpose.  And one covered in a black plastic bag is un-fucking-acceptable even for one minute.  But, hey, Joe Ferris probably doesn't see things the way I do.  Vive la difference!

To underscore the underlying issue of what an organizational mess Hudson City Hall and Common council meetings are, consider these two screenshots from the YouTube video of the October 14th, 2025, Informal Common Council meeting in City Hall.  The first shows (far in the background) a uniformed Nick Pierro giving the Hudson Fire Department report from the back of the room, his uniform being his police uniform, not his fire uniform.  (Council prez Depietro made note of this detail out loud and chuckled on his own.)  The second shot (20 minutes later in the meeting) was taken during an interruption in Captain David Miller's HPD report when Nick Pierro talked at length about HPD's new approach to booting vehicles and the possible use of license plate readers, subjects which Lieutenant Pierro apparently felt Captain Miller could not articulate well enough (or at all).  Pierro, still in his police uniform, who had been standing in the background while Miller gave his HPD report, came forward to speak after he had raised his hand and was recognized by Depietro to speak.

That night, Nick Pierro gave the Fire Department report and took questions.  He also gave the final portion -- albeit unplanned and an obvious complete surprise to Captain Miller -- of the HPD report and also took questions.  Is there anything this guy doesn't do, talk about or know the answers to?  Perhaps he will soon be involved in the Code & Infrastructure Committee meetings as well.  Committee chair Jason Foster sure could use someone -- indeed, anyone -- at his meetings to talk about code-related issues, that's for sure!  How much longer must we wait for someone qualified to finally step forward and fill that void?  Does it matter who it might be... if it ever happens?