Capital City Fire/Rescue is asking Juneau residents to “adopt a hydrant” to help them keep the city’s 2,000 fire hydrants clear of snow.
CCFR asked in a Facebook post for people to help keep snow and ice three feet away from hydrants in their neighborhoods.
“If a hydrant is buried by snow, it is difficult to find and valuable time must be spent digging it out,” the post reads. “When it comes to fighting fires, every second counts. In the time it takes firefighters to dig out a hydrant, a fire could double in size several times.”
CCFR urged organizations such as Boy/Girl Scouts, chuch and youth groups, as well as businesses and those concerned with neighborhood safety, to help out. Although the city water department is tasked with the job, their staff size has shrunk in recent years and “it just takes time to get to them all,” CCFR said online.
The “Adopt a hydrant” program is informal, so it isn’t necessary to inform CCFR about which hyrants are “claimed.”
