CHESHIRE, Mass. — Fire Chief Thomas Francesconi said because of the current weed issue in Cheshire Reservoir, the fire trucks are unable to effectively pump water from the lake.
Francesconi told the Selectmen on Tuesday that fire trucks are unable to pump water from the lake to serve houses on Hutchinson Lane, Lanesboro Road and the coves because of recent tape grass activity that has clogged the boat launch and the fire trucks' pumps.
"There is collateral damage that I don't think anybody thought of," he said. "I can't get water out of that lake right now to put out fires."
The Selectmen said Ray Fisher, chairman of the Hoosac Lake District Preservation, said because of unique weather conditions this year the tape grass was able to thrive and quickly take over.
By late July, SOLitude Lake Management arrived in Cheshire to clean up the lake with a rake type mechanism called a harvester, however, the selectmen noted that they had another obligation and had to bring the harvester to another lake.
Town Administrator Mark Webber said he was told by Michael Lennon, who is overseeing the cleanup, that he has never seen a similar weed problem.
Fisher has been in contact with SOLitude in attempts to get the harvester back in town because many cove residents are still unable to launch their boats.
Francesconi said the pump can either float on the water's surface or pump from underwater. He said all attempts have led to clogged pumps.
"We did try to draft out of the north basin south side and the weeds were so bad," he said. "They just clogged up our portable pumps in our engines. We got about 150 gallons before we had to shut down."
Francesconi said the Fire Department has tried to clean up the lake but the weeds are overwhelming.
The department is not defenseless and still has access to nearly 3,800 gallons of water stored in the trucks and water tankers. He said, unfortunately, this goes fast.
"After we run out we have to get the water from somewhere else," Francesconi said. "If it is a small fire we hope we can knock it down with 3,800 gallons but you can go through 1,000 gallons of water in six minutes."
He added that relying on tankers not only create a time delay but also would be hard to maneuver on the cove roads because they are small one-way roads.
"The coves would be more of a priority for me because ... they are not small trucks," he said. "Before we could supply our fire engines and fight the fire with our portable pumps but we can't do that right now."
Francesconi said there are sporadic hydrants in the area but many are not turned on. He said some of the area hydrants are on a private water line.
"We have to get on scene, and I have to make arrangements to call their water superintendent," he said. "He then has to go to the pump house, turn the hydrants and then they have to bleed the air out before we can hook up."
He said there are also some hydrants along Lanesboro Road but they are not reliable.
The selectmen said they would contact Fisher and ask him to tell SOLitude about the current situation and see if they can bring the harvester back to Cheshire
"We will try to do as much as we can from this end," Chairman Paul Astorino said.
