With the snow storm we are having this weekend many fire hydrants in your area can become covered and hidden by snow. Please help us out and consider shoveling out your nearest fire hydrant. It could save your life. Searching for and uncovering a buried hydrant consumes precious time in the event of an emergency. Please clear a 3 foot by 3foot area around the entire hydrant. Thank you in advance and please remember to stay diligent if you must travel the roadways. If you do not need to travel, please consider staying home and remember to be safe.
We are reminding residents to keep a close eye on fire hydrants to make sure they don’t get buried in snow. Firefighting efforts could be hampered in the event a hydrant is buried. As a result, we are requesting residents that have a fire hydrant in their yard to dig it out if it is covered with snow.
Looking for an excuse to get out of the house? How about if it increases fire safety in your neighborhood in the process?
Still not interested? How about if it could save property or even your life?
We are asking residents to do their part by "adopting" a fire hydrant near their home and shoveling it clear of snow in case of an emergency.
"Fire hydrants are often overlooked when clearing snow" We are asking that if you have a hydrant on or near your property to please clear the snow away. When there is a fire and responders need to connect to a hydrant, every second counts — and we could lose precious time trying to dig a hydrant out of the snow."
3 feet of clearance from the hydrant is needed.
Firefighters say they realize the snow may be too hard to remove and that not everyone who has a hydrant in or near their yard is capable of shoveling.
"We would like to extend the invitation a little further to neighbors helping neighbors,". "You never know who may benefit from crews being able to rapidly access the hydrant. If it can’t be done because it is too hard-packed, we understand."
With cold temperatures predicted, the snow will likely be here for a while. He said this is the first in years since where snow-covered hydrants have been an issue.
The Southern Maryland Volunteer Firemen’s Association asks residents to adopt a hydrant.
"Fire hydrants are critical in the event of a fire to supply water in addition to the small amount that we carry in our fire engines," In the moments that it could take to find and dig out a fire hydrant which is buried in the snow, fires can double in size with each minute that passes."
"Fires often happen when it's dark or in inclement weather so anything that citizens can do to help firefighters locate and connect to hydrants is of great help,".
We urge residents and businesses to clear all doors of snow, not just the one most frequently used.
"In the case of a fire where occupants may need to exit quickly, a blocked doorway or exit path could be catastrophic,"