Help the Fire Department – Adopt a Fire Hydrant

Posted: Feb. 8, 2010

“Adopt A Hydrant” Program

Help the Fire Department – Adopt a Fire Hydrant

Please help the Fire Department by adopting the fire hydrant closest to your home or business and keep it free of snow during the winter.

Please make it a point to uncover your fire hydrant after each and every snowfall. Clear a path approximately 3 feet around the hydrant and shovel a path from the street or roadway up to the fire hydrant. These actions will allow the Fire Department to quickly locate the fire hydrant, obtain a water supply for firefighting activities, and give the fire department room to work with this hydrant should the need arise.

Please consider helping a neighbor with a medical condition or who is elderly, by shoveling out a hydrant in front of their home. This act of kindness will benefit the entire neighborhood.

At a fire, the Fire Department must quickly locate and gain a water supply source from the closest fire hydrant. A fire engine carries enough water on board for approximately 3 ½ minutes of firefighting. If a fire hydrant is buried by snow, it is difficult to find and valuable time must be spent digging it out. It may take from 4 to 6 minutes to dig out a fire hydrant buried by snow. The delay in gaining a water supply from a fire hydrant may disrupt the timely manner in which firefighters are able to fight the fire and may allow a fire to grow. Fire doubles in size every 20 seconds.

The “Adopt A Hydrant” program is an informal program, therefore it is not necessary to advise the fire department of which hydrants you will be clearing snow from.

On behalf of the entire North Shore Fire Department, thank you for keeping the North Shore community’s fire hydrants clear of snow and keeping our communities safe!

The North Shore Fire Department Public Education Office can be contacted at jglanz@nsfire.org or 414-228-0292, should you have any questions.

For additional fire and life safety information, please visit our website at www.nsfire.org.