Teens Arrested for Opening Hydrants

BLANCO COUNTY, TX - The Blanco community is still recovering, after losing half its water supply over the weekend.  Police say two men opened a few fire hydrants in the early morning hours Saturday.

"I don't like that at all," Chase Maddox said. "I don't like the whole idea that that's even possible for someone to be able to do that. Just right here in the front yard"

Maddox and his family live on the property, where this fire hydrant sits. Police say it's just one of the hydrants broken open early July Fourth.

"Some fire hydrants had been opened in Johnson City, and two of them had been opened in Blanco. There were two in each city," Interim Police Chief Carl Bragg, said.

Blanco Police arrested 19-year-old Dustin Garrett, a volunteer firefighter, and 18-year-old Stephen Howells, for criminal mischief.

What tipped police off was the tool found in their personal vehicle.

"It's a piece of equipment that's left on the fire truck," Asst. Chief Bragg said.

Blanco resident Carolyn Milam wasn't in town at the time, but when she returned, she noticed the erosion caused by the water.

"It's incredibly dry. And hot. And we shouldn't be even watering our yard. We can't have water wasted," Milam said.

In these extremely dry conditions, unscrewing a fire hydrant isn't considered a nuisance, or even a prank. This crime has been forwarded to the Homeland Security Department.

"Since this had to do with putting two communities in jeoparty. And the possibitlity of the fire, you could've had this whole county go up," Asst. Chief Bragg said.

The City's water monitoring system alerted officials around 4 a.m. Saturday, when tanks were losing dangerous amounts of water.

"420,000 gallons of water," Chief Bragg said.

The City immediately called off all Fourth of July fireworks sales and use as a safety precaution.

Days later, water from the Blanco River has been pumped back into the tanks.

Garrett and Howells have been released fromt he Blanco County Jail--both out on $100,000 bond.