Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Hey Guys,
I posted this in the beginning of the season before we switched to Abby's, so I thought it was worth repeating again.

If there is a hydrant near your house.....for your own and other's safety, please shovel or snowblow around it.  If your house is on fire, the pumper only has between 500 and 750 gallons of water in it, which is only about 2 minutes worth.

My question is this.  If YOUR house is on fire, and YOUR family member is trapped, when the fire engine pulls up to your house, do you want them to spend the first two minutes putting out the fire and searching for your love ones, or do you want them to shovel out the hydrant they need.

I see many times when a driveway is cleaned out and the hydrant 6 feet away from the driveway is buried in snow. Like the people think it is MY job to find it and clear it.  We try to do it, but we cannot do the over 500 hydrants in even our small city every time it snows.

Also, please keep your walks and steps clear, and check out your elderly neighbors walks and steps.  Precious time is sometimes lost because we cannot get a ambulance guerney into the house.

One last thing.......we need to see your house number if you want us to find your house.

Help  your fire dept. help you.

thanks,

Frank D.

Seems to be a pattern developing?

Clears nice when it's warm.   

Our house is between two streets. Both hydrants are just about on my property line. The rear one is kept clear by the town plows as it is a popular thoroughfare. The one in front I make a point of clearing to the bemusement of my neighbors who don't realize why. You never know when someone will need access to one. Best to be safe..

Hi you all!

First I just want to say that you made a great post. Many people who have fire hydrants are obstructed by tall grass that covers it up. My job is to do a little free work for these residential areas. I like to go around with my trimmer and cut this stuff down so that the hydrants are accessable!

Because I live in a mobile park, you don't have a fire hydrant every 30 feet. We have a fire hydrant that is 100 feet away from us. Other mobile homes in the park that are closer to the back are more like 500 feet away from the hydrant. But as with all fire engines, they have a watter tank inside them so it don't matter. But, I have seen a hydrant watter hose extend to over 500 feet before. I remember this fire that was in dear creek. Not in the creek though lol. Its a housing development near the creek. Anyway, I remember going down there to check it out and was following this hose from the hydrant on my bike and it went for at least 1000 feet. It was quite long. So, because of this, I feel quite safe that the fire department can put out any fire that we or others may have.

Hey Termy,

Thanks for the "good deed" trimming the hydrants. 

Termy and others, 

As Frank said, a tank in a fire engine only holds about 1500 gallons.  Although that seems a lot if you are taking a bath, some water cannons on the top can spray 1500 gallon each minute.  Hence, they only come to your house with 60 seconds worth of water; after that they need a hydrant or pond to pull more from.  If they use the cannon and a hose, the water in the truck could be gone in less than 1 minute.

The normal response time in Volunteer F.D. areas is usually 3 minutes to get a truck or engine out of the station.  Most rooms that catch on fire will explode from the heat within 1-1/2 minutes. 

Hence, if the fire takes 1-1/2 minutes to recognize, the first room will be gone by the time you call the FD.  Two more rooms may be gone by the time the engine leaves the station.  Driving at say 60 mph, to a house 3 miles from the station, two more rooms may be gone.  Getting into the house to put out the fire may consume another room.  That makes it possible to have 6 rooms of your house totally gone by the time the Fire Department starts putting it out. 

All is not lost!!!

When leaving a building for a fire, CLOSE THE DOORS!, this will slow the progression of the fire greatly. (Unlike unwanted guests, opening the door won't get it to leave) 

Test smoke detectors, the smoke is what kills you, not the flame. (it only cooks you for the BBQ party.  You'll still go, but your dead). 

Buy a fire extinguisher.  It can be used to put out kitchen fires, couch fires, etc.  (It sure beats replacing 6 rooms of your house).   You can even cover a pan that is on fire with a lid and put it out.   Check the extinguisher type to make sure it is able to be used in specific environments.  (Water extinguishers can't be used on electric stoves!  Get a little Ben Franklin 'goin on...)

As a side note, I need to thank the idiot that lived below my wife.  They had a pan that was on fire that they tried to carry out of the building while it was on fire.  It lit one of the evacuation routes on fire as well.  All was o.k with the building (and her cat).  As the one guy ran out of the building with the flambe, his stoned rasta crony ran behind stamping out the flames.  Please nobody try that at home, or even at a good friends home!

Why must I thank the idiot who new nothing about fires? Standing outside for the evacuation is how I met my wife! 

Please be safe everybody, we need you here!

Walt

Good points Walt.

Without getting on a whole fire safety thing....my main point is that wintertime brings on a whole set of obsticles that could easily be solved if people think ahead.

Clearing hydrants is obvious.  You would think that clearing driveways, walks and steps would be too. 

You are ten times more likely to need an ambulance then a fire truck. Can the ambulance crew get a guerney into your house, or do they have to slowly tromp through the snow while precious time is being wasted.  If your house is ok, what about the elderly neighbors house?  We are our brothers keeper.

A bigger problem, not snow related, is how cluttered many peoples houses are with junk......How far can a guerney go in the average cluttered house? Not far.

Well, forgive me for preaching here....I do not want to get off topic on a forum decated to OPE.   Just thought I'd remind people to keep things clear for emergency services.

Respectfully,

Frank D.

Very well stated Frank,

I did sort of steer left onto the fire safety portion, and EMS is far more likely to be needed.  I see lots of houses going up in flames on the news each day because of Kerosene heaters, fireplaces, etc. and decided to throw in some other stuff. 

Thanks for making us aware, and thank you for your service to your community.

Best Regards,

Walt