Fire hydrants few and far between for some areas

"We didn't really worry about a lack of fire hydrants when we built our house, but the fire down the road did give us something to think about," said Renae Wallin, who built a home near south Las Vegas Boulevard and Blue Diamond Road.

That "fire down the road" was a house fire on June 30 three blocks away from Wallin's home.

The fire caused $750,000 in damage before 30 firefighters and 10 fire trucks could put the blaze out. Firefighters were not helped by the fact that the nearest hydrant was 1 1/2 miles away, requiring the engines to shuttle water to the fire.

"We run into having to shuttle water from time to time on the outskirts of town," Ken Riddle, Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman, said. "It's a part of a growing city that we have to deal with."

Fire engines carry 1,000 gallons of water, and if there are no hydrants, a tanker truck that holds 5,000 gallons of water can be called into service, Riddle said.

There are hydrants at Del Webb's San Rafael development about two miles from where the Rancho Destino fire occurred. The fact that San Rafael has hydrants and the homes two miles away do not is the result of county regulations.

If a house is built more than 1,000 feet from a water line and is not part of a group of at least five homes, a hydrant will not be placed by that home, according to Clark County regulations.

"It's growing out here, so they'll have to eventually put the hydrants and water lines in," Wallin said. "Once there are some more houses like in the Del Webb subdivision, there will be a lot of hydrants and a lot more people."

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