Gamble v. Dobrosky - Ohio Supreme Court Opinion - Ohio Supreme Court Decision

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[Cite as Gamble v. Dobrosky, 89 Ohio St.3d 257, 2000-Ohio-150.]

GAMBLE ET AL., APPELLANTS, v. DOBROSKY, APPELLEE.
[Cite as Gamble v. Dobrosky (2000), 89 Ohio St.3d 257.]
Fire safety -- Ohio Fire Code -- Fire hydrants -- Compatibility of fire hose
connections with fire hydrants -- Word "compatible" in Ohio Adm.Code
1301:7-7-05(B)(6), construed and applied.
(No. 99-1311 -- Submitted April 12, 2000 at the Geauga County Session --
Decided July 12, 2000.)
APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Lucas County, No. L-98-1293.

The Lucas County Board of Commissioners ("Board of Commissioners"),
appellant, operates a public water supply system in several unincorporated areas
in Lucas County, Ohio. This system contains approximately 1,500 fire hydrants,
which are located within the service areas of the numerous fire departments. All
the hydrants are identical; they have a standard-size main nozzle and "New York
Central"1 threads on the two side nozzles.

Jerusalem Township, one of the unincorporated areas, has forty-two of the
county's fire hydrants within its jurisdiction. Jerusalem Township has fire hoses
with different threads, i.e., National Standard threads. Jerusalem Township must
use adapters on their fire hoses to connect to the side nozzle threads on the
hydrants. When the Board of Commissioners refused to replace the New York
Central side nozzle threads with National Standard threads, Jerusalem Township
Fire Chief, Frank Dobrosky, appellee, issued a citation to Larry L. Gamble, the
former Lucas County Sanitary Engineer, appellant. The citation alleged that
appellants installed "Fire Protection equipment with fire hose connections that are
not compatible with the connections utilized by the local fire department," in
violation of Section F 501.6 of the Ohio Fire Code.

Appellants appealed the issuance of this citation to the Ohio Board of
Building Appeals. After conducting a hearing, the Board of Building Appeals
upheld the citation.

Appellants then appealed to the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas.
The court reversed the Board of Building Appeals. The court found that
appellants had not violated the Ohio Fire Code.

The court cited OFC F-501.6, as codified in Ohio Adm.Code 1301:7-7-
05(B)(6), which requires threads "compatible" with the connections utilized by
the local fire department. The court considered the definition of "compatible" as
found in the Random House Dictionary of the English Language (2 Ed.1987), and
found it required the capability of coexisting in harmony. Thus, the court
determined that the Ohio Fire Code merely requires that the threads of the fire
hydrants be capable of being used with the threads on the equipment used by the
Jerusalem Township Fire Department. Since the township's fire department has
adapters that connect to the side nozzles of the fire hydrants, the court concluded
that the county fire hydrants are compatible with the township's fire equipment.

The township's Fire Chief appealed to the Lucas County Court of
Appeals. The court of appeals reversed. The court consulted the Merriam-
Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (1996) 234, and found that "compatible" means
designed to work with another device without modification; thus, the threads were
not compatible.

The cause is now before the court upon the allowance of a discretionary
appeal.
__________________

Julie R. Bates, Lucas County Prosecuting Attorney, and John A. Borell,
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellants.

Shindler, Neff, Holmes & Schlageter and David J. Simko, for appellee.
__________________

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FRANCIS E. SWEENEY, SR., J. Appellants set forth several propositions of
law. However, both parties agree that the pivotal issue concerns the meaning of
the word "compatible" as found in Section F-501.6 of the Ohio Fire Code2 as
codified in Ohio Adm.Code 1301:7-7-05(B)(6).

Ohio Adm.Code 1301:7-7-05(B)(6) provides:

"F-501.6 Threads: All threads provided for fire department connections to
sprinkler systems, standpipe systems, yard hydrants or any other fire hose
connection shall be compatible with the connections utilized by the local fire
department." (Emphasis added.)

The term "compatible" is not defined in the Ohio Fire Code. Therefore,
we consider Ohio Adm.Code 1301:7-7-02(A)(4), which provides that terms that
are not defined "shall have ordinarily accepted meanings such as the context
implies."

The court of appeals' majority cited the Merriam-Webster Collegiate
Dictionary definition: "1. capable of existing together in harmony * * * 5.
designed to work with another device or system without modification." Utilizing
the part 5 definition, the court determined that the county connection was not
compatible with the local department because an adapter (a modification) had to
be used.

The dissent faulted the majority for omitting the rest of the part 5
definition. The dissent referred to the whole definition, which reads, "[D]esigned
to work with another device or system without modification; esp. being a
computer designed to operate in the same manner and use the same software as
another computer." Thus, the dissent noted that part 5 of the definition was a
recent addition to the definition and not in existence when the Ohio Fire Code was
written.

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Appellants also claim that the court of appeals' decision to focus on part 5
of the definition instead of relying upon part 1 of the definition, i.e., "capable of
existing together in harmony," was erroneous. We agree.

Both the Random House Dictionary and the Merriam-Webster Collegiate
Dictionary define "compatible" as capable of existing together in harmony.
Indeed, this is the same definition found in Webster's Third New International
Dictionary (1986) 463. If all three dictionaries define "compatible" in this
manner, obviously this must be the ordinarily accepted meaning of the word.
Thus, we find that the court of appeals' reliance on the fifth part of the definition
is too restrictive.

Moreover, we agree with appellants and the dissent that if the drafters of
the Ohio Fire Code wanted to require identical threads, they would have used the
term "identical" rather than "compatible" in Ohio Adm.Code 1301:7-7-05(B)(6).
However, the drafters declined to do so. Therefore, since the term "compatible"
is used in the code, we apply the ordinary meaning of that term.

Here, the record reflects that adapters are available which allow the fire
department's equipment to connect to the side nozzles of the fire hydrants that are
part of the county system. The record also establishes that the Jerusalem
Township Fire Department has these adapters and uses them to access the water
supply system. Thus, the use of these adapters renders the threads capable of
existing together in harmony or "compatible," as defined by all three dictionaries.
Although appellee argues that the use of adapters to connect to the fire hydrants
creates potential problems and dangers, we find no support in the record for such
an assertion.

We believe our interpretation is logical for yet another reason. If the
county was required to replace the New York Central threads with National
Standard threads to satisfy this township, what would prevent the other
unincorporated areas serviced by the county from demanding that the county

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change their hydrant threads as well? The record reveals that the cost to change
the side nozzle hydrant threads is approximately $140 per hydrant. The county
system contains approximately 1,500 hydrants. This could become a costly
endeavor for the county.

Accordingly, we find that with the use of an adapter, the threads on the
fire hydrants are capable of being used with the threads utilized by the Jerusalem
Township Fire Department. Therefore, we hold that the county system of
hydrants is compatible with the township's fire hoses. Appellants did not violate
Ohio Adm.Code 1301:7-7-05(B)(6). The court of appeals' judgment is reversed,
and the judgment of the common pleas court is reinstated.
Judgment reversed.

MOYER, C.J., DOUGLAS, COOK and LUNDBERG STRATTON, JJ., concur.

RESNICK and PFEIFER, JJ., dissent.
FOOTNOTES:

1.
The side nozzles are also referred to as steam nozzles. Originally,
they were used by railroads to fill the water tanks of their steam engines. The
nozzles used by the county are called New York Central threads because the New
York Central Railroad used this thread.

2.
Pursuant to R.C. 3737.82, the State Fire Marshal "shall adopt a
state fire code which shall consist of rules relating to all aspects of fire safety."
The statute further states that the code shall include rules relating to the
installation and location of fire protection equipment.

The State Fire Marshal adopted the National Fire Prevention Code. Ohio
Adm.Code 1301:7-3-01(A). The Ohio Administrative Code further states that the
rules adopted by the State Fire Marshal "shall be controlling within the state of
Ohio and shall be known as the `Ohio Fire Code.' " Ohio Adm.Code 1301:7-3-
01(B).
__________________

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PFEIFER, J., dissenting. Those of us who grew up in small towns
remember the familiar wail of the firehouse siren. It called in farmers from fields,
barbers from behind their chairs, and lawyers from lunch, to respond to a
neighbor's call for help. The allure of the alarm may have been replaced by the
banality of the beeper, but the core idea, neighbors helping neighbors, still beats
in the heart of local fire departments all over this state. Local fire departments
form the first line of defense, and bring local knowledge to the fight when others
come to help.

The Ohio Administrative Code recognizes the important role of local fire
departments. The majority errs when it makes this case about the definition of
"compatible." Ohio Adm.Code 1301:7-7-05(B)(6) puts the onus on the county to
make threads compatible with those used by the local fire department, not vice
versa. The local threads are the ones that already exist -- it is the county that
must make the match. As it now stands, it is the local departments that must
make their equipment compatible with the county threads, through the use of
adapters. That is obviously not the intent of the Administrative Code section at
issue. The responsibility of compatibility is with the county, not the local fire
departments. Otherwise, Ohio Adm.Code 1301:7-7-05(B)(6) would call for
connections adaptable for use by the local departments.

The increased expense of changing threads, cited by the majority as an
additional reason for deciding against the local departments, does not hold water.
What local fire departments represent--self-sufficiency, local control, and
unity--is priceless, and if not priceless, is worth more than $140 a hydrant.

RESNICK, J., concurs in the foregoing dissenting opinion.

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