Assessment: Water supplies for fighting fire marginal

Most of Jefferson County’s water supplies used for fighting fire are either marginal or inoperable — and that finding, along with many others pertaining to infrastructure, equipment and more, are outlined in a fire needs assessment recently completed by Hamilton-based Fire Logistics Inc. 

The draft, “Needs Assessment of the Jefferson County Fire Service,” presented last week to the Jefferson County Planning Board, covers a lot of ground and is designed to accompany the county’s first comprehensive Capital Improvement Plan. 

“The assessment did tackle some of the tough questions facing Jefferson County with regard to the current needs of our fire departments and how the continued growth of the county impacts those needs.  It provided an important snapshot of capabilities and resources currently available and identified the gaps that remain to be filled,” said  Doug Dodge, disaster and emergency services coordinator with Jefferson County.