Officials: Scrappers in Detroit disabling hydrants for brass connectors

DETROIT — Firefighters in Detroit faced a major problem on Wednesday night while battling a fire at a vacant home. They could not find a working fire hydrant.

First responders tried the first one only about a half a block away and it was out of order.

They then moved onto two more hydrants before they were able to find one that worked.

Firefighters said that this is a growing problem.

Officials from the fire department said that scrappers are stealing the threads used to connect the hose to the hydrant because they are made of brass.