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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - A task force of water utilities, fire departments and concerned citizens held its first meeting Friday -- a direct result of a WSAZ investigation that led to a new state law.

The task force met Friday at the state Public Service Commission.

The WSAZ investigation -- False Security -- stemmed from two fires with the same issues. Firefighters didn’t have enough water May 5, 2023, to fight a house fire in Charleston, 15 months after crews encountered the same problem in failed efforts to save a Pizza Hut in Danville.

WSAZ took the issue to Gov. Jim Justice in early June 2023, who directed state regulators and lawmakers to investigate.

All of that ultimately led to passage of House Bill 5617. Justice signed the legislation March 20 and credited WSAZ NewsChannel 3 with bringing the issue to the state’s attention.

The legislation authorized PSC to adopt national standards to strengthen hydrant rules and reliability.

Step one of that process took place Friday as the task force convened to draft recommended rules.

“I think this this may be what I would like to be remembered for,” PSC engineer Jonathan Fowler said in reflecting upon this task and his career. “Fire hydrants are very important function of public safety. They’re important to the water systems and to the general public.”

The Task Force is working to merge two national standards.

Topic one, Friday, was inspections. Members agreed to recommend annual inspections to test mechanics of every hydrant, agreeing to look at functionality over age alone.

The group had less consensus on flow testing.

West Virginia American Water favors a flow test once every 10 years. Others are pushing for a flow test every three to five years.

Members also had disagreement on if those test should look at a single hydrant or multiple hydrants at one time.

Fire departments asked to be notified when the testing occurs.

“Because we can then determine if we need to think about something,” said Joe Stevens, spokesman for the city of Nitro. “If there is a situation in an area that need is being worked on or something of that nature, we can bring in other resources to help that problem out if it is occurring.”

The task force agreed on the need to mark hydrants a different color, depending on how much water each hydrant can produce. Yet, they disagreed on if that means a full paint job or some other marking.

“Some people say paint the bonnet and nozzles, and other people say put a reflective tape on it,” Fowler said. “I say whatever gets it marked so that everybody understands it, is better than what we’re doing.”

The task force wrapped up agreeing to have staff take Friday’s discussion and write a first draft of the new regulation for further discussion.

The task force plans to meet again in late May. Its recommendations are to be given to the PSC by June 30. Commissioners will then consider a final rule.