Firefighters: Shoveling snow from around fire hydrants can save lives

MISHWAKA, Ind. --- Snowfall can bring a lot of headaches for homeowners tasked with shoveling and even salting the driveway.

But one of those tasks following a snow-day could save lives and firefighters are urging everyone to make sure any fire hydrants on their properties are visible.

Division Chief of Training at the Penn Township Fire Department, Brian Kazmierzak, said it’s a simple task that is often-times forgotten.

“It’s a life safety issue for everybody,” Kazmierzak said. “The biggest thing is if we can’t find your fire hydrant, we can’t help you. We want you to dig out your fire hydrant.”

There are some guidelines you should know for when feet of snow is in the forecast.

If snow is covering a fire hydrant on your property, the fire departments asks for at least a three foot radius dug around a hydrant.

“We’ve always been lucky,” Kazmierzak said. “I’ve had to dig them out to get there to get them where you could see the top or something like that. I posted one to our Facebook page yesterday of a department looking for a hydrant while the house is burning. So I saw that yesterday and that was kind of like our call to hey, dig out your fire hydrants.”

So on top of the sidewalk, the driveway, the front-door, and the car be sure to shovel around the fire hydrant.

“If you dig it out for us you know, you live there, you know exactly what the thing is,” Kazmierzak said. “If you dig it out for us ahead of time, it’s gonna save us time when time is of the essence.”