Revised fire hydrant rules lets building resume

Oahu residents whose building permits were held up because their homes were determined to be too far from the nearest fire hydrant are applauding a decision by the Board of Water Supply to relax the policy after consulting with the Hono­lulu Fire Department.

As many as 50 building permits had been delayed after the Board of Water Supply in April began enforcing a 34-year-old agency rule covering the spacing and flow rate of fire hydrants.

The rule set a maximum distance of 175 feet from the nearest fire hydrant for any new construction or upgrade on a single-family home. The nearest fire hydrant also had to have a flow rate of at least 1,000 gallons per minute for a property owner to get a permit.

Homeowners who did not meet the criteria were given the option of installing a fire prevention sprinkler system at their own expense to have their permits approved.

After receiving negative feedback from building permit seekers, Board of Water Supply officials held a series of meetings with the Hono­lulu Fire Department about the practicality of the hydrant rule, said BWS spokesman Kurt Tsue.

Based on current firefighting technology, including the length of hoses carried by fire trucks, it was decided to increase the allowable distance from a hydrant to 350 feet from 175 feet, Tsue said. A final decision was made Wednesday after a meeting with Fire Chief Kenneth Silva, he said.

While the agency relaxed its distance requirements, it is still requiring hydrants to have a flow rate of 1,000 gallons per minute, he said.

Of the 40 to 50 permits delayed by the permitting requirement, all but 16 have been given the green light to proceed, Tsue said. The remaining projects either did not meet the new maximum distance threshold or the minimum flow rate, according to Tsue.

"That’s excellent news," said Kevin Wong of Kailua. "This would have thrown a huge wrench into my renovation."

Wong said he was forced to delay his project because he couldn’t afford the $10,000 to $15,000 expense of installing a fire prevention sprinkler system.

Stan Krasniewski said he and his wife, Barbara, were "ecstatic" after getting a call from a BWS engineer Wednesday.

The Kailua couple, who are building a two-bedroom, two-bath addition to their Kailua home, originally were told they would have to install a sprinkler system because their property line was 286 feet from the nearest hydrant. The Krasniewskis said it would have cost $10,000 to $13,000 to put a sprinkler system in their home.

"We feel that 350 feet is a reasonable distance," Stan Krasniewski said.

Before April the Board of Water Supply had not enforced the 1977 hydrant rule. The decision to begin applying the rule was made by former BWS Manager and Chief Engineer Wayne Hashiro, who cited concerns about fire dangers due to Honolulu’s increasing density, Tsue said. Hashiro retired in July.