If there is a fire hydrant near your property, Kamloops Fire Rescue is asking you to do your part and clear away snow and ice from it this winter.
Captain Jamie Chase says it will allow crews to get to the hydrants a lot quicker in an emergency.
“They can be difficult to find if they are buried in snow, and even if we can find them, for a fully geared up firefighter carrying all tools and
equipment, to then try and dig down into the snow to hook our hoses up to the fire hydrant, delays their ability to actually fight the fire.”
He also asks people to not add more snow on top of the fire hydrant when they are clearing their driveways and sidewalks.
“And if they do see that one has been inadvertently covered up by a snow plow passing by, or if someone else has been shoveling snow onto it, that they try to do their part to clear some snow away from the fire hydrant.”
A rule of thumb, as Chase suggests, is to clear a wide enough perimeter around the hydrants for firefighters to work.
“A minimum of a one metre space around the hydrant. That is where the firefighter would stand to work to connect our valves to it and connect the fire hoses as well as the access from the street up to the hydrant.”
1/4 Don’t do a snow job on your neighbourhood hydrant… the house you save may be your own.
Please help protect yourself, and your neighbours, by keeping your fire hydrant clear of snow. They’re easy to forget about, but summer and winter, that’s where… pic.twitter.com/UQ7OGt7ktA— Kamloops Fire Rescue (@KamFire) November 8, 2022
