Uh, read the story again. It sounds like (1) it was not in a city but a somewhat rural area and (2) the supplier is a private utility, not the city.
Yes, I read the story. The city has sold the maintenance of the fire hydrants to a private company. Yes, I know that it was a “rural” area, but the city still owns the fire hydrants, they just outsourced the maintenance.
In addition, the city and the private utility’s inability to guarantee enough water pressure still go back to the responsibility of the city, not the utility that holds the maintenance contract. This is another case of a politician ducking a storm they created by blaming the company responsible for the maintenance.
I’m not buying the blather!