Burton Speakman
GLASGOW — Three local fire departments are working together to help provide as much water as possible for customers of Caveland Environmental Authority.
Firefighters starting Thursday have been using a pumper truck to send water from the Glasgow Water Company system to CEA.
The truck was parked on Western Hills Road at the intersection of Happy Valley where fire hydrants for the two systems are located within feet of each other.
“We were getting 180 gallons per minute from them, but with the help of the firefighters, who have more (water) pressure, we’ve been able to get right at 400 gallons per minute,” said David Peterson, general manager for Caveland.
The company greatly appreciates the work of the firefighters as well as the people at the Glasgow Water Company, Peterson said.
“This has been a real community effort,” he said. “When people work together things work out all right.”
For the first 24 hours, firefighters from the Cave City Volunteer Fire Department rotated manning a Glasgow Fire Department truck, said Adam Maudlin, deputy chief at CCVFD.
Park City Volunteer Fire Department brought its truck at noon Friday. Larry Poteet, deputy chief, said the truck would remain for a day.
Glasgow Fire Chief Bobby Bunnell said that helping with the effort was simply the right thing to do.
“We’re working together to make sure there isn’t too much taxing on any one agency’s vehicle,” he said.
The fuel situation with the vehicles has been arranged and all the various agencies are working together, Bunnell said.
Caveland has been purchasing water from the Glasgow Water Company since Wednesday, Peterson said.
The additional water the firefighters have helped pump has allowed Caveland to offer its customers enough water to meet basic needs, he said.
“We’re still asking people to conserve,” Peterson said. “All our hotels are full. Everyone from the north is coming to Cave City because we’re the first place heading south on I-65 that has electricity.”
The expectation is that firefighters will continue helping to pump the water into the Caveland system through the weekend, he said.
Green River Valley Water District has gotten enough generator power to become operational, Peterson said. The expectation is Green River will test their water on Saturday or Sunday and then will lift its boil water notice by Monday.
At that point, Caveland will be able to purchase less water from Glasgow and return to normal operations, he said.
The firefighters are prepared to continue pumping water as long as necessary, said Sgt. Jason Logsdon, from the CCVFD.
The Glasgow Water Company has wanted to do whatever it could to help the Caveland customers, said Scott Young, general manager at Glasgow.
“We’ve had our people here working extra hours so we can give them all the water we can,” he said.
The effort hasn’t had an impact on the water supply for Glasgow customers. The company is doing everything it was before and just a little more, Young said.
