ROGERS -- Employees of a rural water district confiscated equipment from the Beaver Lake Fire Department after discovering some of its firefighters tapping into a fire hydrant to fill swimming pools, an official with the water district said.
The department hadn't notified the Benton County Water District it planned to tap the hydrant or arranged to pay for the water, said Eddie Cooper, water district manager.
"We confiscated the equipment they had on our hydrant," Cooper said.
Fire Department officials confirmed firefighters tapped fire hydrants to fill three private pools without first notifying water districts this summer.
A Benton County sheriff's office investigation determined there was nothing criminal about the rural department's actions, said Keshia Guyll, spokesman for the office. Theft of service can be a felony if the cost of the service is more than $500.
But the Fire Department misused the public utility, and an assistant fire chief with Beaver Lake Fire Department resigned over the matter, Cooper said.
Some of Cooper's employees were in the Beaver Lake area in July when they discovered the fire equipment hooked to a hydrant.
Fire Chief John Whisenant said the crews filled the private pools as part of training exercises. He said he personally paid $78 on July 17 for an estimated 12,900 gallons of water drawn from the Benton County hydrant in July.
The water district returned equipment, including a hose, after the water was paid for, Cooper said.
The mostly volunteer Beaver Lake Fire Department received several calls this summer asking for help to fill swimming pools, Whisenant said. Whisenant is the department's only paid employee.
"It has been a long-standing thing that fire departments have done," Whisenant said. "It helps us exercise the equipment. It is a good training. We get to shuttle the equipment and use different techniques with the hose."
However Cooper disputed that the water was drawn for a training exercise.
"That is a lie," he said.
Another water provider learned in August that the Fire Department also was tapping into its hydrants.
Earl Rausch, water utility manager in Rogers, said someone tipped off his office about firefighters possibly filling pools. The Beaver Lake department sent a letter to his office soon after, he said.
The letter said the department used 90,000 gallons for training by filling two pools in June and July. The department used 60,000 gallons to fill a pool on East Gate Drive that was later topped off with another 5,000 gallons, it said. The department also used 25,000 gallons to fill a pool on Par Lane.
The Beaver Lake department sent the Rogers utility a check for $372 on Aug. 19 to cover the cost.
Whisenant said none of the pool owners are Fire Department officials or related to fire officials.
"They are just our average community member," Whisenant said.
The pool owners donated money to the department to cover the costs, Whisenant said.
Casey Ward, the Beaver Lake department's former deputy chief, resigned July 31 and said last week that the pool fill-ups were one reason.
"I'm not sure how much training a person can get watching water fill in a swimming pool," Ward said.
Ward had been with the department for six years. Previous fire chiefs never conducted similar training and didn't fill swimming pools, he said, adding that he didn't believe the department had intended to pay for the water.
"They didn't meter the water, so there's really no estimate of how much water they really got," Ward said.
But Whisenant said his plan always was to have the residents pay for the water.
"It is a pretty straightforward deal. Just a training activity," Whisenant said. "We have the money to cover it. We paid for it. I don't think there is anything bad about that."
Cooper and Rausch said fire departments are supposed to notify a water district before hooking up to hydrants for training exercises.
Rausch also said that if residents need more water pressure for certain projects -- such as filling a pool -- they can call the water utility. Department officials can then allow residents to connect to a hydrant using tools that will meter the water, he said.
Metro on 09/27/2015