DE PERE, Wis. (SPECTRUM NEWS)— Firefighters urge residents to shovel out fire hydrants to help them while on calls.
Snowfall across Wisconsin can sometimes be a headache for those who have to get out and shovel their driveways, but next time you are out make sure to shovel one extra thing on your block; your fire hydrant.
As Training and Safety Officer, Eric Johnson makes his way around De Pere, he's noticing quite a few fire hydrants covered in snow.
"Having the hydrants shoveled out just makes all the difference in the world for us," Johnson said.
He says it's an issue that can be the difference between the levels of damage someone may see if their house is on fire. So we decided to set up a scenario to show just how long it can take first responders to get to someone’s home, dig out a hydrant, and begin fighting fire.
The team of firefighters is notified they are needed at a call. During that process they rush out to get dressed in all their gear and get in the truck. By then, they are at about two minutes since the initial call. Factor in about a three to four minute drive and they are now at six minutes while arriving to the fire hydrant.
Firefighter Shaun Corroy has done this a time or two before, so he gets the attachments on the fire hydrants in about three minutes. The use of the fire hydrant happened after the water that is already in the truck has been used.
"It just makes our job easier, its one step less that we have to do so that we can effectively put out your house fire if it's your house," De Pere Firefighter, Shaun Corroy said.
We have an understanding of what the process looks like on the outside of someone’s house that is on fire, but what can be even more interesting is what is going on inside during this time frame. A video from UL Firefighter Safety Research Institute shows just how quickly a fire can spread inside a room in this day and age.
In the few minutes a firefighter takes to dig out the nearest fire hydrant, a room can become fully engulfed in flames.
"Every minute, every second that we can save in getting there as rapidly as possible to get that fire out of control is paramount," Johnson said.
The De Pere Fire Department says they are looking for a three foot radius shoveled around the fire hydrants with access from the road. They say this applies to the whole state of Wisconsin and not just their area.