UNION COUNTY, N.C. — An improvement to Union County’s firefighting abilities could save lives and lower homeowners’ insurance bills.

This summer, the county installed a dry hydrant at Cane Creek Lake at Cane Creek Park.

The hydrant uses a non-pressurized pump to pull lake water and fill fire department tanker trucks. The installation allows 2,500 gallon tanker trucks to be filled in roughly two minutes, instead of 10, according to Union County Fire Marshal, Kevin Rigoli. 

What You Need To Know

• Dry hydrant cuts water pumping time in more than half
• The new tool could reduce fire insurance rate costs in the region
• Firefighting officials in the county say the new tool could cut response time, saving lives

“I think it’s tremendous because growing up in this community, I can remember the days when we sat cause we ran out of water on a fire scene, and I think now, we’ll probably never see that happen again,” Rigoli said while giving a demonstration of the new hydrant.

Rigoli, who’s been fire marshal for nine years, said this was a 25-year project in the making and cost roughly $22,000 to install. The project was engineered, installed and completed by Union County’s water department employees. 

“This will help their next rating for the ISO, Insurance Services Organization. When the state comes through and grades, the fire department in this area, they could actually see a decrease in their insurance premiums if the fire department receives a lower rating,” Rigoli added.

The decrease in premiums could reach upwards of $100, according to Rigoli. 

Graham McManus, the fire chief of Jackson Volunteer Fire Department in southern Union County, said the new hydrant will help his volunteer firefighters improve services for their area of the county.

“We’re unique to the 18 departments in the county, where we don’t have any fire hydrants in our fire district. So, getting this dry hydrant was a big stepping stone for us,” McManus said while his department ran tests on the new hydrant, as part of the demonstration.

In just more than two minutes, they had successfully filled a tanker truck, cutting down on the 10 minutes it used to take, which could save future lives.

“Time is everything when a fire happens. Somebody has to call, we’re all volunteers so we have to drive to the station, pick up our apparatus, and then respond to the incident. So, having this water source closer by than having to drive 6, 7, sometimes 10 miles out of our fire district really helps,” McManus added.

And, he expanded on Rigoli’s assertion the new hydrant will save homeowners money as well.

“In the state of North Carolina, nine is an insurable home, the rates are a little higher for that. Going to a five, it does drop that premium for a homeowner drastically,” McManus said.

McManus is in his fifth year as fire chief and said the new improvements could mean the difference between containing a house fire to a room or two, as opposed to the entire home going up in flames. His fire district looks after more than 4,200 Union County residents, and now will be able to use a quicker tanker task force. 

The task force consists of other mutual-aid fire departments heading straight to the lake when there’s a fire, while McManus’ team heads to the fire directly. As tankers fill up in minutes, they rotate to the scene, constantly providing lake water until the fire is out. 

Faster response times and cheaper insurance rates are good news for residents of the Jackson Fire District, which means it’s good news for McManus’ neighbors and friends, the people he’s spent 20 years volunteering to protect.

“It’s just a passion of mine to go out and help my community. I’ve lived here forever so it was kind of neighbors helping neighbors,” McManus said, a lifelong resident of Union County.

The county’s 17 fire districts, and the City of Monroe Fire Department, can all successfully use the tanker task force to transport water, according to Rigoli. He said the county-wide successful testing could also lower fire insurance premiums.

The dry hydrant can be used by any department in need in North or South Carolina, according to county staff.