Fire Departments make Plea to Dig out Hydrants

This week’s massive winter storm has prompted the Brooklyn Park Fire Department to ask people to clear snow away from fire hydrants in their neighborhoods.

“We just want three feet all the way around it,” said Jeff St. Martin, Brooklyn Park’s fire inspector. “So a real easy way to do it just kind of arm’s length, for most people, is gonna get you right in the ballpark. Open up the front, give us three feet all the way around, we can get there. We can mitigate your problem much, much quicker. Save lives, save property, and that’s what it’s all about in the end.”

Fire officials say that when a hydrant is covered with snow and ice, it can take firefighters up to six minutes to dig out the fire hydrant themselves and connect to the water supply. 

Now, they’re asking residents to adopt a hydrant and help them with this task.

As an extra incentive, the city has launched a contest where they’re encouraging people to temporarily dress up their adopted hydrant with fun costumes and then post the photos on social media using the hashtag, #WeAreBrooklynPark.

“It’s a lot of fun, especially for the kids,” said Danya Baken of the Brooklyn Park Fire Department. “So they get to get out and play in the snow, shovel around in the snow, dress up their hydrant, be their favorite characters, things like that. And it’s also getting the local schools involved as well.”

The ‘dress up a hydrant’ competition runs through Feb. 28. The winners will receive a pizza party with firefighters at the Brooklyn Park fire station.