By: Diane Benjamin

I heard a rumor about fire hydrants not working at this apartment fire, so I FOIA’d documents. I will label that rumor untrue, one hydrant broke during the fire and could not be turned off, but that is the only reference to a broken hydrant I found.

Keep in mind it was 7 degrees and the wind was 16 miles per hour. Not only were crews handling this fire but also the train derailment in Uptown.

The fire was started by a plumber who was soldering in a bathroom and caught the insulation on fire. You can see the entire Fire Department report here including photos:

This is an excerpt – the interview with the plumber:

The below is one of the places the broken hydrant is mentioned – this is in an unsigned February Work Report:

I’ve written about ZenCity before, this explanation was included in the FOIA. Yes they are spying on you but just to squash misinformation and ignore the “noisy few”:

A reporter followed up with the Town in July:

Response: