Digging Out Hydrants Saves Time for Fire Crews - ABC5 News Des Moines, IA

Digging Out Hydrants Saves Time for Fire Crews

 By Addie Olson

aolson@myabc5.com

@addieolson

"In a fire, seconds count," said Capt. Steven Brown of the Des Moines Fire Department.

Having to dig out a fire hydrant that's covered in snow and ice takes a lot more than just seconds. Spending the time shoveling, could mean the difference between life and death.

"When you pull up to a fire scene, you're concentrating on a lot of things, so getting rid of one other thing to take up time can help save lives," said Brown.

Hydrants throughout the metro were covered during the last storm, and we could be looking at more snowfall early next week.

The Des Moines Fire Department was out clearing hydrants yesterday, but sometimes it takes more than one go–around.

"In the middle of the night, everything re-freezes, gets real hard," Brown said. "So in the event that we do have a fire, it's going to take us that much more time."

Firefighters are asking for a little help.

"What we encourage are the homeowners who know where these hydrants are, when they're out there doing their driveway or their sidewalk, go ahead and clean around those hydrants for us," said Brown.