Image this, your house is on fire and the fire department arrives only to find or in this case can’t find your water hydrant without wasting precious time because it is buried with snow. According to a Kansas City Star article, fire officials across the Kansas City Metro area are worried that critical minutes could be lost trying to locate hydrants to hook up water hoses.
Bryan Dehner, Overland Park fire chief, said it would help fireman if homeowners would check on the hydrants near their house and dig them out if they have been buried. Dean Cull a fire Marshall and an official of the Heart of America Metro Fire Chiefs Council said “Being able to access water quickly can mean the difference of saving a life or a structure.” The council urges residents who decide to dig out their neighborhood hydrants to also shovel a one foot path from the street to the hydrant.
According to Dehner, Overland Park fire trucks have systems that tell firefighter that a hydrant is in front of a particular address. Dehner also said that some Kansas City metro departments DO NOT have hydrant locator systems.