The following is a message from the LFD: With the approaching possibility of a severe snow storm, the Lakewood Fire Department is asking for your assistance.
Help us to help you by clearing a three foot circle of snow from around a fire hydrant on your block. A lot of times the fire hydrants are covered by snow conditions and plowing operations.
While you are shoveling your driveway or sidewalk, it will only take a few extra minutes to clear a hydrant in front of your house, or on your block. Please consider helping a neighbor with medical conditions or who are elderly, by adopting their hydrant as well. This simple act of kindness will benefit the entire neighborhood.
When seconds count for your home or for your neighbor’s home, every little bit helps the fire department and their response. During a fire, the Fire Department must quickly locate and gain a water supply from the closest hydrant. If a hydrant is buried by snow, it is difficult to find and valuable time is spent locating and digging the hydrant out. This delay in gaining water from a hydrant may disrupt the timely manner in which firefighters are able to fight the fire, allowing it to grow. A fire doubles in size every 20 seconds.
The Lakewood Fire Department thanks you for your participation and community service.
What do we pay the water company a maintenance charge for every year? They should be clearing the hydrants, after all the Fire District pays the water company over $300.00 a year per hydrant, you do the math.
What do hydrants eat? Do they fit in standard car seats? Will my children be jealous? Man, the questions that will arise with this program…
To just thinking out loud, So glad to see how much you care. I guess you wouldn’t say a word if your home burnt to the ground because the FD couldn’t secure a water supply because the hydrants were buried.
number 3, number 1 want saying not to clear them. Just as I understand he’s just saying that it should be the water company s responsibility and not the lfd.
To anon , ok understood but with that said there are many more people shoveling their driveways and sidewalks than there are water company employees so the hydrants would be cleared much faster if everyone pitched in to help.
The amount of time it takes to clear out a few feet around your closest fire hydrant will be worth it in the long run! This is not an issue up for debate! If you feel that it is the right thing to do for you and your fellow human beings than by all means shovel it !! If you feel that someone else (MUA or NJAmerican) should be shoveling than feel free to contact those individuals who can make that happen! But, for now…just safely clear a hydrant in hopes that the Fire Department will never have to utilize one!
this was a smart thing to post.
the water company’s job is to provide water to the hydrant and nothing more. it is the responsibility oh the towns people to make sure that we can access them as fire fighters ! this is a great program and has proven to save lives . although it has been shown in Lakewood that we can not even stop people from parking in front of hydrants asking them to shovel snow away from them seems like a pipe dream. adopt a hydrant Lakewood the life you save may be your own
I am so disappointed in some responses. whats the big deal about shoveling a few feet extra. you are right: it may be someone else’s responsibility, but its our lives and our homes. whats the big deal about helping the municipality out. or do you consider 5he five minutes spent shoveling some kind of bitul torah? shame on all those who say it’s not my job
It only takes a few minutes out of your day if you are already shoveling out your driveway and front walk..if you have a hydrant in front of your home or in the vicinity of your home just help the FD out. it will just take a few minutes but is worth its weight in time and gold