Crime & Safety

How Clear Should Your Neighborhood Hydrant Be?

After receiving over two-feet of snow, firefighters tell us how much snow you should remove from your area fire hydrant.

Welcome to You Ask... Patch Answers where we answer readers questions.

We recently received questions about clearing neighborhood fire hydrants to help fire departments. But how much of the hydrant should we clear? How many feet around the hydrant will help the firefighters?

Here is your answer:

Find out what's happening in Hinghamfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Hingham Fire Chief Mark Duff encouraged residents to completely clear snow from the hydrants, after a burried hydrant delayed firefighters from responding to an East Street fire last week.

Stoneham Fire Chief Joe Rolli said fire departments need about two feet of snow cleared away from the hydrant.

Find out what's happening in Hinghamfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

"The front of the hydrant is most important because that is where the hose gets hooked up," said Chief Rolli.

Also, the nut on top of the hydrant must be clear, as firefighters need to use it to turn it on.

There you go, Stoneham. Now you know, and you can go clear your hydrants for the Stoneham Fire Department!

 

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