![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Bad neighbors.
Nov. 15th, 2010 09:21 pmI was out walking yesterday and noticed something on the next street over that rather disturbed me. Something that deeply bothered this former volunteer firefighter. Something that someone did with their yard plantings. Probably not out of actual malice, since they would be equally screwed should the need arise, but out of thoughtlessness, and the urge to have the perfect suburban yard. (tm)
It was a fire hydrant along the street near where my grandmother used to live. The fire hydrant was totally surrounded by shrubs, and the only reason I could see the hydrant was that all the leaves had fallen off the shrubs. Obviously the hydrant had been hidden by these shrubs for years. It was all rusty and what little paint was on it was red, and our town had switched to that florescent green-yellow back in the 80s.
I think that the homeowner must know it is there. The bushes all around it are coiffed and trimmed to an aesthetic shape not normally found in wild shrubbery. But each and every owner of that house in the last 30 years has hidden that fire hydrant from the fire department. Again, probably not in malice, but in thoughtlessness and probably ignorance.
I think I'm gonna go visit the fire department this weekend and mention this overlooked and forgotten fire hydrant to them. I'm sure that there is some sort of town bylaw that requires homeowners to not obstruct fire hydrants with their yard landscaping stuff.
One thing that anyone who lives in a home that is in an area served by a fire hydrant system is to make sure that the hydrant that is closest to your home is clear and accessible. Easily visible from the street by the approaching firefighters, and it is clear all the way around so that the firefighter can walk around the hydrant to attach hoses and turn the valve on top. All the caps are in place and the five sided valve lug hasn't been sawed off by a thief wanting the thirty cents worth of brass in it. When it snows, shovel out the hydrant when you are clearing your driveway and walk. It takes only another couple of minutes, and the home you save might just be your own.
It was a fire hydrant along the street near where my grandmother used to live. The fire hydrant was totally surrounded by shrubs, and the only reason I could see the hydrant was that all the leaves had fallen off the shrubs. Obviously the hydrant had been hidden by these shrubs for years. It was all rusty and what little paint was on it was red, and our town had switched to that florescent green-yellow back in the 80s.
I think that the homeowner must know it is there. The bushes all around it are coiffed and trimmed to an aesthetic shape not normally found in wild shrubbery. But each and every owner of that house in the last 30 years has hidden that fire hydrant from the fire department. Again, probably not in malice, but in thoughtlessness and probably ignorance.
I think I'm gonna go visit the fire department this weekend and mention this overlooked and forgotten fire hydrant to them. I'm sure that there is some sort of town bylaw that requires homeowners to not obstruct fire hydrants with their yard landscaping stuff.
One thing that anyone who lives in a home that is in an area served by a fire hydrant system is to make sure that the hydrant that is closest to your home is clear and accessible. Easily visible from the street by the approaching firefighters, and it is clear all the way around so that the firefighter can walk around the hydrant to attach hoses and turn the valve on top. All the caps are in place and the five sided valve lug hasn't been sawed off by a thief wanting the thirty cents worth of brass in it. When it snows, shovel out the hydrant when you are clearing your driveway and walk. It takes only another couple of minutes, and the home you save might just be your own.
