A huge production like Fire and Water has subplots that are best told by the pro-fessionals.  Bruce Osborn, the Victoria Firefighter and Public Works Director, tells us what happens in the Victoria Water Treatment Plant.
1) "Water comes from a ground aquifer," said Bruce.  "You can say that the aquifer is the well.  Water is pumped from the aquifer into the treatment plant.  It is coming from Well #2, Well #3, and Well #4.
2) "The water goes through aeration which means air is added to it.  This oxidizes the iron and manganese in order for them to become particles that can be removed.  They are removed for aesthetics.  They have an unpleasant color.  Higher levels can become harmful.
3) "The next step adds permanganate which helps to further oxidize the manganese. 
4) "Then there are 30 minutes of detention time.  This gives the iron time to grow into bigger particles.
5) "Filtration is next.  There is sand in the bottom of the detention tank, which has four cells.  The water is filtered through that sand and the particles are removed.
6) "Sodium hypochlorite, which is a disinfectant, is added as the water comes out of the filter and again as it goes into the distribution system.  This is required by the state.
7) "The water is moved to an under-ground reservoir [located on site next to the treatment plant].  This tank holds 613,000 gallons of treated water.
8) "From this underground reservoir, the water goes through a high service pump into the underground water system for the City of Victoria.  Water flows through the system and feeds the homes and business-es. 
9) "Polyphosphate and fluoride are added as the water goes into the distribu-tion system.  Polyphosphate is a coating that helps carry it through the system and through the pipes in the houses.  Fluoride is for teeth and is required by the Department of Health.
10) "Water flows through the system and into the water tower [located at Holy Family Catholic High School] if it's not all being used by the residents.  The water tower is only a pressure tank, a control tower, for gravity flow when it is needed."

Anticipating considerable growth for the City of Victoria, especially as annexa-tion occurs, Victoria Fire Station #1 is so named.  Satellite fire stations will be need-ed in the large land mass that will one day be Victoria.
According to Bruce, the Fire Station Expansion added a 5^th and 6^th bay to the existing fire station, each of them able to hold two or three trucks because the bays are deep. 
The Fire Station Expansion allows the Victoria Fire Department to grow into its space.  Members are expected to submit a build-out plan to Victoria City Councilmembers in the near future. 
The plan will create a meeting room, a kitchen, and a training room in the upper level of the expansion.  The old meeting room on the first level, from where Victoria firefighters and their spouses once served their annual Smelt Fry, is proposed to be converted into office space.
Currently there are 30 firefighters in the Paid On Call Victoria Fire Department.  Members must live or work in the City of Victoria. 
The latest addition to the fleet at the Victoria Fire Station arrived in town this spring - May 18^th, to be exact - and was put into service on June 2^nd after training was completed.  It's called Tanker 925.  It was ordered in September, 2005, and cost $149,500.
Other major resources of the Victoria Fire Department include two engines, two grass rigs, one rescue rig, one utility rig, one large boat, one small boat, two snow-mobiles, and one command vehicle.  There is plenty of room in the Victoria Fire Station #1 for all of the above and more.

The whole production is pretty cool - in more ways than one.  "Temperature of the water in the treatment plant is around 50 degrees Fahrenheit," said Bruce.  "That's pretty cool.  That's why it conden-sates and drips on everything.  The surface water of a lake is about 70 degrees."
The production is also pretty hot - in more ways than one.  Everybody's fired up about Fire and Water.