Rainbow MWD ensured water service for fire suppression

The Lilac Fire started on property adjacent to the Rainbow Municipal Water District headquarters. Although the Rainbow office was evacuated as well as some of the district’s equipment, Rainbow personnel ensured that the district’s infrastructure was able to provide water for fire hydrants and ceiling sprinklers.

“We really played a support role,” said Rainbow general manager Tom Kennedy.

The high winds that created the risk of a wildfire caused Rainbow to take precautions even before the Lilac Fire began.

“We moved all our heavy equipment and trucks and our personnel over to the Palomar College site,” Kennedy said.

(The connection of Rainbow water and sewer services to the developments on the northeast side of Interstate 15 and State Route 76, including Palomar College, has led to an agreement between the Palomar Community College District and the Rainbow Municipal Water District which allows the water district to use part of the campus property to base some operations and equipment at the site.)

The pre-fire preparations also included staff meetings to handle the scenario of a wildfire. One of those meetings had just concluded when the Lilac Fire started. “We were ready to go,” Kennedy said.

At one time some fire hydrants had two outlets for 2 1/2-inch hoses. Newer fire hydrants in residential areas have one 2 1/2-inch outlet and one four-inch outlet. All of Rainbow’s fire hydrants now have at least one four-inch outlet. A hydrant with one 2 1/2-inch outlet and one four-inch outlet is standard for residential areas, and hydrants for commercial buildings have a higher capacity depending on the anticipated suppression requirements in the case of a fire.

While the firefighters were battling the blaze, which spread into the Rancho Monserate mobile home park, the firefighters asked for additional water pressure from the hydrant, so district staff adjusted a valve to increase the pressure. In the absence of a fire water pressure is lower to avoid overuse of the system.

“While they’re running that we can increase the pressure,” Kennedy said.

During the fire a water main parallel to Camino Del Rey near Cottontail Lane broke. “We had to get out and take care of that,” Kennedy said.

“We got it under control,” Kennedy said. “It was fairly shallow to get to.”

New homes are required to have ceiling fire sprinklers, and many commercial and office buildings have been built with sprinklers. That requires continuous water service to those properties.

Kennedy noted that the water for sprinkler systems was available although few sprinkler systems were activated. “The sprinkler requirements were fairly recent,” he said.

Rainbow staff members were also present at command centers to ensure immediate communication if Rainbow action was needed. “We had people stationed with CalFire at the headquarters and also had other people stationed at the North County Fire Protection District headquarters,” Kennedy said.

“We just want to ensure we always have water services,” Kennedy said. “It was a long night.”

Kennedy noted that the water users during the fire rather than the water suppliers were primarily responsible for limiting damage. “I think the firefighters did a great job,” he said.

Meters are shut off if the district is aware that no water can be supplied to a property, since an accumulation of water could create problems. “Everywhere there’s a structure loss we have to turn off the water,” Kennedy said.

That will require work for Rainbow in the recovery stages. “We help people restore their water as soon as possible,” Kennedy said.