How 'Adopting' A Fire Hydrant This Winter Can Help Firefighters

LAKE FOREST, IL — This winter, the Lake Forest Fire Department is asking for the community's help with clearing snow off fire hydrants in their neighborhoods.

This snow season, the Chicago area has seen more than 30 inches of snow and more is on the way, according to weather forecasters. While a couple of inches typically don't make a difference, hydrants can get buried under snow piled up from plows and make it difficult for emergency responders to locate them.

Community members clearing off hydrants near their homes could make a life-saving difference, saving firefighters minutes, according to Fire Chief Andy Rick.

"Fires right now, with the way buildings are built, they double exponentially every minute. It really does make a difference when it comes to not even just life safety, but just the damage that a fire does. Because it does grow and double every single minute based on the building materials," Rick told Patch.

In past years, the fire department has gone out and shoveled along major routes itself, but Rick said it's almost impossible to get to every single hydrant. That's where the nationwide adopt-a-hydrant initiative becomes a part of the discussion, Rick said.

Community members who recognize there is a hydrant near their house, or near an elderly neighbor's house, could make a difference by making sure the hydrant is visible to emergency responders.

The fire department asked that residents clear a path of about 3 ft in all directions around the hydrant to make it easily visible. Residents can use shovels, snow blowers or even ask their snow removal service providers to add the hydrant to their list.

"I think part of it is even just recognizing if that's the case, and you have [a hydrant] on your street, talk to the crews that are clear in your own driveway and see if they'll also do that when they're hitting the sidewalk," Rick said.