"Just plain ugly." That s how North Adams Mayor Jennifer Macksey describes parts of the concrete channels that carry the Hoosic River through her city. This distressed system of "flood chutes,"
NORTH ADAMS â North Adams officials are reviewing the cityâs fire hydrant infrastructure, after nonfunctioning hydrants delayed firefighters at recent blazes.
The City Council on Tuesday also will consider an ordinance to create a fire hydrant division within the cityâs Department of Public Services.
City officials estimate that about 100 hydrants are nonfunctional, out of more than 600 across the city, although estimates of how many are seized shut or broken vary between the Fire Department and the Department of Public Services.
Broken, frozen and missing hydrants slowed firefighters as they responded to two major fires over the past month, prompting the city to reconsider how it tracks and maintains hydrants.