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While most Blanco County residents were peacefully sleeping after a day filled with Fourth of July celebrations that included barbeque picnics, boating and fireworks – two young men became “bored.”

Dustin Garett, a 2008 Blanco High School graduate, and Stephen Chase Howells, a 2009 Blanco High School graduate, were apprehended after releasing well over 182,000 gallons of water in the city of Johnson City and 200,000 gallons in Blanco from local fire hydrants.

According to Johnson City manager, David Dockery, the two young men, both 19 years old, confessed to the crime and claimed “boredom,” as their reasoning for vandalizing fire hydrants in the two cities and depleting the cities water sources.

Dockery stated that a fire hydrant will pump approximately 1,100 gallons of water out per minute.

The Johnson City water tower can hold 150,000 gallons of water when it is full. The city has five water tanks that it utilizes. When the vandals released the water in Johnson City, it triggered two water pumps in town that began to try and replenish the water immediately. “Those two water pumps both pump about 746 gallons of water per minute,” Dockery stated. “Thankfully, this occurred late at night, at our lowest water usage time of the day. If it had taken place during the day, our pumps would not have been able to handle the demand, and it would have put us at a critical level,” he added.

Unfortunately for Garett and Howells, their mischief caused even further damage to the city of Blanco. According to public words director Nathan Cantrell, over 200,000 gallons of water gushed out of the hydrants into the streets and down the hill into the state park. Mayor Tina Gourley said that campsites on the west side of Blanco State Park were flooded by the rush of the water.

Interim Blanco police chief Carl Bragg stated that the fire suppression system in Blanco was drained, reducing water to a critical level. Assistant Homeland Security Coordinator, Dale Kohler, stated that “anytime a water supply is threatened, it is procedure to notify Homeland Security and the FBI.”

Ironically enough, both young men had dreams of working in public service that were snatched away in a moment of “boredom.” Garrett was a member of the local volunteer fire department and hoped to attend Fire Fighter Academy someday. According to Police Chief Glen Dubois, Howells on the other hand had already enlisted in the armed forces and was preparing to serve the country.

“Unfortunately,” Chief Dubois stated, “these boys will probably be serving in a federal penitentiary instead.”

Bonds were set for both young men at $100,000. Only one of them was out on bond at the time of this article.