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Shoveling snow off your fire hydrants can help improve emergency response times

If a crew has to respond to a fire, minutes spent having to find and then dig out the hydrant on their own are minutes wasted that could cost a life.

PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — With all the snow that's piled up recently, fire crews need your help responding to emergencies. 

You likely have one by your house, and right now, its likely underneath a layer of snow. While you're out shoveling the driveway, the Plainfield Township Fire Department also asks you to shovel your fire hydrant.

"Whatever the homeowner can do is fantastic," says Jessica Herrington, a firefighter with the Plainfield Township FD.

Herrington says the most common causes of fires they responded to in 2023 were cooking related or from lithium ion batteries. If a crew has to respond to a fire, minutes spent having to find and then dig out the hydrant on their own are minutes wasted that could cost a life.

"You just don't know when they're gonna happen," she says. "So just be prepared."

And when you do go out to shovel your hydrants, crews ask that you leave a wide amount of space around them, ideally a three foot by three foot clearing.

That's because of the equipment needed to properly attach the hose.

"We have very large hoses, they're large diameter," says Herrington. "And that's what we hook up to the hydrant to go to the truck, so it's a very, very big diameter hose. So that's why we need all the space around the fire hydrant because there are three connections that you can possibly hook up to the hydrant."

To check out more fire safety resources provided by the Plainfield Township Fire Department, click here.

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