Sebastopol's fire hydrant heroes
Old-timers Ray Senn and Joe Pogar spend a dozen hours a week taking care of Sebastopol's 448 fire hydrants.
At any given moment, any one of Sebastopol’s 448 fire hydrants has the capacity to pull from the town’s water supply to extinguish nearby fires. That is, only if they are properly maintained.
That’s the job that has fallen to Ray Senn and Joe Pogar, two veteran volunteer firefighters who make their way around the city on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings to maintain the city’s fire hydrants.
Senn was honored at the last city council meeting for his 45 years dedicated to the fire service. He came to be a volunteer after Russ Shura, the longtime Sebastopol fire chief who was also his brother-in-law, told him, “You are a fireman now” in 1979.
“And that was that,” said Senn, who was born in Petaluma but has lived in Sebastopol since 1948, with the exception of short stints in both Oregon and Los Angeles.
Due to a medical condition, Senn is losing his eyesight, which means he can’t drive himself around anymore. No matter. With Pogar behind the wheel, the duo have plenty of vigor to get the job done.
“We do it because we are retired so we have the time to help the city,” said Senn, who before retirement worked as “a journeyman welder.” Two of Senn’s children are also firefighters, with one, Matthew, being a volunteer with the Sebastopol department.
Senn and Pogar typically arrive at the fire station at 8 a.m. where they begin loading up one of the department’s pickup trucks with tools. Then they review the map and make their way to a part of town where hydrants haven’t had a check-up for a few years.
“Every hydrant needs to be visible from the street, easily accessible, and it has to function,” said Pogar.
Once they get to a hydrant, they remove the caps off of its three spouts and screw a fire hose into each, one at a time. Then they release the stem with a special wrench so that water can flow freely out of the hydrant, through the hose and into a dechlorinator that is attached to the back of the pickup. This allows for the hydrant to be cleared of any rocks or dirt that could otherwise do damage to nearby property.
While this is happening, Pogar, to the chagrin of Senn, greases the stems so they can open easier in the case of an emergency.
“He puts so much grease on it you can barely pull it off,” said Senn.
“F- - - you,” said Pogar, laughing.
The hydrant is then tested for static pressure, residual pressure and flow pressure in pounds per square inch. The numbers gathered from each measurement are entered into a formula which reveals the most important characteristic of a fire hydrant’s vitality: its flow capacity.
Unlike “dry barrel” fire hydrants that are used in towns where the temperatures can go below freezing, Sebastopol’s temperate climate allows the city to have “wet barrel” hydrants, which are always filled with water and have spouts on the sides instead of the top. Sebastopol’s four newest hydrants, which were installed this year at the Woodmark apartments on Bodega Highway, use essentially the same mechanism and technology as the hydrants installed in the middle of the 20th century.
In order to reach another one of the day’s several hydrants, Senn must move a handful of recycling bins, which, unlike cars, can be easily pushed out of the way. Usually everything goes according to plan. The flow capacity is within a reasonable range, the hydrant is cleared of any gunk, and Senn and Pogar get to move on to another hydrant before they return to the station to wrap up their day’s work.
Sometimes, though, chaos reigns.
“One time we got 200 PSI. It exploded, and my hat blew off into the street,” recalls Senn.
Pogar also reminisces on the fun times he has had dealing with the town’s many fire hydrants. He said these sorts of tasks—where a pair works together on a project, whether it is maintenance or responding to a call—are what builds the character of a department.
“It builds trust, teamwork and camaraderie,” said Pogar. “It also just gives you something to think and talk about.”
Very interesting! After 50 years of living in Sebastopol, this is the first I've heard of this process. Thanks Ray and Joe for helping keep us safe!
I am grateful to these two hardworking gentlemen for doing this important work tirelessly for all these years. We are fortunate to have such dedicated volunteers in our community.