Crystal Public Works Duo Best in State at Assembling Fire Hydrant

For the second year in a row, Crystal is home to state champion fire hydrant installers.

That’s right. 

Crystal public works employees Ryan Maurer, left, and Cullen Loughlin placed first in a state competition when they assembled 43 pieces of a fire hydrant in 1 minute and 22 seconds.

Crystal Public Works employees Cullen Loughlin and Ryan Maurer assembled 43 pieces of a fire hydrant one second faster than a team from Bloomington at a conference in Duluth. It took the pair one minute and 22 seconds to complete the task.

“It makes it fun,” said Loughlin. “Mixing your every day work into a competition, it’s something different. Challenging. Fun.”

Maurer competed–and won–last year, also.

“Every city does it a little bit differently. It kinda caters to your different employees,” Maurer said.  “You might have a taller employee like him and a shorter employee like me, you know, where he can get up and put the bonnet on.”

Maurer said the competitions–including the national meet coming up next summer in Denver–are a chance to watch, learn, and connect with other crews.

“It is cool representing the city, especially a city as small as Crystal,” he said. “Like, if we have a problem here, now we know some people from other cities and we don’t know the answer to it, we can call them and see if they’ve every experienced that issue.”

The pair demonstrated their technique before a rapt Crystal City Council on November 19. They’ll have plenty of time to practice more before Denver.

“We can always get faster,” said Loughlin. “It’s just going to take more time and more practice.”

Crystal | Twin Cities

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