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Hydrant fails during house fire

Residents concerned about failure

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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Homeowners in Arlington are concerned about their safety after rescue teams couldn't get a fire hydrant to work while a house was on fire Wednesday morning.

Firefighters struggled to open a hydrant on Volley Drive when a house caught fire.

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"Hydrant caps themselves did not want to come off. They were on there, just too tight," said Jacksonville Fire-Rescue Chief Mike Strickland said.

Despite the dilemma, Strickland said crews still managed to put the fire out with water from a fire truck. But residents say it never should have been a problem to begin with.

"Now, the job that they did, I'm very pleased with that, but I'm still concerned with the hydrant itself not being exposed at the time it needed to be exposed," resident Melvin Williams said.

Pulling the hose down the street, firefighters were able to keep the fire from spreading. They said an electrical short started the fire.

The explanation is not easing many fears.

"I don't feel safe at all, because they need to check -- if something's wrong with the hydrant they need to come and replace it," resident Joseph O'Neal said.

Fire crews say it's not typical for a hydrant cap to be screwed on so tight. They say they do perform routine maintenance. But residents say it's obviously not often enough.

Even though they initially couldn't get the cap off the hydrant, firefighters said they never ran out of water.

No one was home at the time of the fire.