Helix Water District Spared Lawsuit Over Hydrant

Wednesday was a good day for Michael Maynard and his employer, the Helix Water District. At the afternoon board meeting, Maynard soaked in praise from bosses and board members while receiving a 10-year service award.

Minutes later, the board officially learned that the district wouldn't face a financial drenching.

In late September, lawyers for the Boekamp family east of El Cajon formally dismissed the water district as a defendant in a lawsuit alleging negligence and "breach of duty."

The Boekamps—Herbert, Patti, Ashley, Jason, Jacob and Jake—had sued the district after a January fire destroyed their home on Van Horn Road. They sought several kinds of damages—and demanded a jury trial.

The suit said a fire started in a 2005 Corvette they bought from Bob Stall Chevrolet in La Mesa and reached their house. And when the San Miguel Fire Department  exhausted its 30-second water supply aboard its truck, firefighters went looking for a hydrant.

"After spending considerable time trying to locate the fire hydrant," the suit said, "San Miguel found the fire hydrant after clearing a significant amount of brush.    Upon connecting San Miguel's hoses to this fire hydrant, San Miguel realized that no water was flowing to the fire hydrant. At this point, all attempts to save the Boekamp Residence from destruction were abandoned."

The suit alleged negligence on Helix's part, saying the district failed to properly service and maintain the hydrant, and the Boekamp home went up in flames the night of Jan. 16-17 "due to the lack of any running water from the hydrant."

But water district counsel Scott Smith said attorneys for Daley & Heft—the district's insurance carrier under the ACWA Joint Powers Insurance Authority—had informed the Boekamps' lawyers in Irvine that the Helix Water District had immunity from this suit under "state law and case law."

The case also didn't involve a settlement, Smith said, so he could inform the board in public instead of closed session.

For his part, Maynard got a public ovation from the board and fellow employees who crowded the meeting room at the University Avenue headquarters of the water district.

Maynard, who started work at Helix in 2000 after spending time with the Lakeside Water District, has been a system operator here for the past 8 1/2 years—a job that includes ordering water daily from the Metropolitan Water District and meeting the "demands of the system" and its 25 pump stations, said his supervisor, Kyle Swanson.

Maynard also is responsible for maintenance and security and helps with recording stations—all while working weekends and holidays as well.

A 1991 graduate of El Capitan High School who wanted to be a fireman, Maynard later changed gears after being a volunteer firefighter and went into the water business.

Helix Water District general manager Mark Weston recalled how Maynard acted fast and wisely when a Fletcher Hills pump station lost pressure. Maynard could have assumed a pipeline break—and lost valuable time—but instead diagnosed a valve problem.

"Mike's quick attention caught that [problem]—and got the valve closed," Weston said.

Maynard's positive attitude, attention to the smallest detail and team spirit also came in for praise, and director Kathleen Hedberg read the service award to him.

Said Weston: "Mike is a part of Helix, one of the reasons for [our] setting standards of excellence. ... You're looking at the future of Helix."