Digging Fire Hydrants Out of the Snow

As Fond du Lac digs out from just under a foot of snow from over the weekend, it’s important to remember to remove snow surrounding fire hydrants. Division Chief of Fire Prevention Troy Haase says it’s recommended to clear about three feet around the hydrants, along with a path to the street. Haase tells us “what happens when we arrive is we have to dig out the hydrant, and that’s just longer it takes for us to get to the fire or to move on the fire. So the more work we have to do to get to the hydrant, the more impact it has on your house fire.”

The fire department is also encouraging people to “adopt” a hydrant on their block, or help neighbors that are unable to remove snow from hydrants that may have been buried by passing snow plows.