Mayor Scott Avedisian is confident there would be sufficient water and adequate pressure for firefighters to quell another fire at Westgate Condominiums if one should occur.

Condo owners have raised the issue of whether residents in the two Westgate buildings spared from the March 11 fire that destroyed Building C are safe. The fire destroyed 38 of the 114 units in the complex on Quaker Lane. When Warwick firefighters tied into the four-hydrant system owned by the condo association, they encountered such low pressure that they went off site. Their efforts were stymied when the port to the hydrant at the corner of Major Potter Road and Quaker Lane was yanked out, rendering it inoperable.

Firefighters were able to get water from the Spencer Woods condo complex and tanker trucks from Coventry, but by then fire had raged across the third floor of Building C and much of the structure was gone. Fortunately when the fire broke out at about 10:15 a.m., many of the building’s residents weren’t home. Those in the building were able to get out without injury, but the fire moved so rapidly few were able to get out their pets or any belongings.

William Herendeen, secretary of the condo association and an employee of Churchill & Banks, property management company for the complex, offered an explanation for the low water pressure. In an interview last week he said the complex is serviced from a pump house at the entrance of the complex. The small building houses two pumps that are used alternatively for water pressure in the units and a 1,000-gallon-per-minute booster pump to pressurize the four hydrants. The booster pump does not come on automatically.

Herendeen, who lost his condo to the fire, was on site during the fire. He said he unlocked the pump house and switched on the booster pump at 10:48. The pump overheated and was shutdown briefly before being restarted. It ran for the duration of the fire, he said.

As the pumps are electric and National Grid shut down power to the entire complex, the pumps were powered by a propane powered emergency generator at the pump house, Herendeen said.

The mayor was familiar with the sequence of events, finding it unusual that the booster pump would need to be manually activated in time of an emergency.

“It’s one of those many questions that needs to be addressed,” he said.

Nonetheless, he feels Westgate condo owners can feel safe that there is sufficient water supply if there was a fire. In addition to the condo association’s own system, which Herendeen said was regularly tested and met standards, the hydrant at Major Potter Road has been replaced and there is another hydrant on the west side of Quaker Lane within 200 feet of the complex. That hydrant was not used to fight the fire on March 11 quite possibly because it wasn’t initially deemed necessary or because it was hidden from view by spectators who parked their cars on both sides of Quaker Lane.

Avedisian said interviews with condo owners are nearing completion and that he would expect the state fire marshal to release a report on the cause of the fire shortly.