“With hundred of hydrants around the city, it would be impossible for us to go shovel them all out,” said SBM Fire Division Chief Maddison Zikmund. “So we ask for the assistance of residents to please do that if you have one in your front yard.”
Being able to deploy life saving measure quickly when they arrive on scene is the big reason why the department is asking residents to have the hydrants clear.
“A fire doubles in size every minute,” says Zikmund. “If we have to take valuable time to dig out your fire hydrant, that could take 2, 3, 5 minutes, and that fire has double, tripled, quadrupled in size. And we simply don’t want that for you.”
Many area residents take the time to clear out their hydrants but there are still many that get buried from drifts caused by snow plows. Zikmund estimates that up to half of the fire hydrants are dug out on a regular basis by residents and business owners.
In 2017 January was the second busiest month of the year for SBM, giving one more reason to make sure your hydrant is accessible.
