Four and a half months after a devastating fire leveled a waterfront Touisset home, Warren still has not identified a sustainable long-term fire fighting plan for the isolated neighborhood, which is not served by hydrants. News came earlier this month that Warren will pay Beta Engineering $25,000 to research the issue and, well that’s all well and good, there should be a few things kept in mind:

First, the last thing Touisset needs is another study. Touisset needs action.

While proper study is crucial to ensure the best system is going in, this can’t and should not take long — a few months, tops, as it’s just the beginning of the solution.

Second, we hope the funds spent on this study can be rolled over or deducted from the cost of the eventual design work that must be done before a system is developed and, later, put in place. For months, fire department members and other officials have been talking at length about possible fixes at Touisset Point. Experts and residents have come up with one clear winner — underground storage tanks at the Touisset Community Club, as other possibilities: a water main down Touisset, a pipeline under the Kickemuit, and using fire boat pumps to fight water from just off the shore — are too expensive or otherwise problematic. While the most likely solution of on-site tanks seems obvious, perhaps Beta can shed more light on the details that others had not thought of. If not, at least the money spent here will go toward the eventual design costs.

The bottom line is that time is of the essence: August’s fire was a wake-up call that deserves to be heeded soon.