Only city trained and authorized users may operate a fire hydrant.Fire hydrants are the working connection to flush out our drinking water distribution mains, any plantings may not survive annual maintenance and flushing activity. Newly painted fire hydrants can be seen blocks away, that can save our firefighters time when fighting a fire. Do not obstruct or plant around fire hydrants so as to obscure them.Here are a few things to remember about our fire hydrants in Owosso: After the City of Owosso painting project is completed, we will start painting the Owosso and Caledonia Township fire hydrants and they will also be color coded according to NFPA and AWWA standards. We will also go back through the city and change the cap colors in accordance with NFPA and AWWA standards based on engineering completed this year. In the past couple years we have repainted almost all of the city fire hydrants and now the remaining fire hydrants in the city are being finished up. If someone sheared the hydrant off its base, which will shear as well and keep the plunger in place and therefore, you won’t have a water geyser.You are beginning to see changes with the fire hydrants in Owosso. Anywhere that there could be a problem with freezing, the plunger is at the bottom buried in the ground and it has a breakaway. “There’s a wet barrel, which means the water is all the way up to the top all the time and that’s usually in the areas that never have a problem with freezing. This coating is highly resistant to impact, fading and K9P. Utilities Kingston protects rebuilt fire hydrants with a Vortex coating system. “There are two different types in general,” he said. Fire hydrants in a private system are painted red. It all it depends on which part of the country one lives in. Lewis said what people see on movies and television from time to time, differs from reality whenever a car plows over a fire hydrant. “The utilities do inspections and keep us informed if a hydrant goes out of service for whatever reason.”Ī driver who loses control of their vehicle is one way to put a hydrant out of service. “The water utilities actually test them and they have people come in, do the testing and then they paint the bonnets,” he said. “Depending on how much of it is involved in the fire, we do a mathematical calculation to determine how many gallons per minute we need to keep that fire under control at that point and extinguish it.”Īdditionally, Lewis noted that regular inspections are performed on the hydrants to make sure they are performing at the expected levels. “We do a fire flow calculation,” he said. Lewis, meanwhile, noted that the department actually uses a scientific formula to help determine how much water is required to battle a fire. “Like Albertsons, all of their hydrants are painted red because it’s for that property specifically.” “Red is the worst and it’s under 500 gallons per minute with the exception of a yard hydrant,” he said. Red hydrants, according to Lewis, are typically dedicated to one specific structure. ![]() The point is, you would need a higher flow for something like Evergreen or the school, than you would for a single family home.” In residential areas, it’s yellow or orange. “If you go up north to Blagg Road you will see the blue ones all the way out to the middle school and the Evergreen facility,” he said. International Association of Fire Fighters Local 4068 President Justin Snow said larger commercial structures typically have a blue bonnet nearby. Residents will know just by noticing the color of the hydrant bonnet closest to their home.” We are very fortunate and there’s been a lot of upgrades within the systems to increase those flows. There are good sections in the north, south and central Pahrump. “Different areas have different flows and depending on where you live, it can vary greatly as far as what the pressures are. Orange and red bonneted hydrants are both considered marginally adequate and inadequate.įire Chief Scott Lewis said water levels in the town’s aquifer determine where the best flows are located in the community. Those living near a blue bonnet hydrant should be relieved to know that it’s deemed the highest performing hydrant with water flows topping 1,500 gallons of water per minute (GPM).Ī green bonnet is also deemed as good water flow from 1,000 to 1,499 GPM’s. Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue follows the National Fire Protection Agency’s hydrant color codes, where the color of the top of the hydrant or “bonnet” actually dictates the hydrant’s level of performance. A drive around the Pahrump Valley will reveal a number of blue, green, orange and red fire hydrant bonnets along roadways, but they’re more than just decoration.
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