- Details
- Category: Past Issues
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM --- After the double digit snowfalls a year ago, the town's Water Pollution Control Authority and its fire departments are playing it safe this year, installing hydrant markers.
The wiry markers are attached to the top collar of the fire hydrants and allow fire department members to quickly find a hydrant in the snow when minutes count during a structure fire.
There are 323 hydrants in Putnam. In the city, there are 215 hydrants; the town has 45 hydrants and there are 63 private hydrants, according to Fire Marshal and assistant Fire Chief Normand Perron.
Perron said the WPCA and the Putnam Fire Department have purchased 100 markers, 50 each, and the markers are being attached to hydrants in the city's densely populated areas.
The WPCA maintenance crew is placing the hydrant markers as time allows, he added.
The East Putnam Fire Department is "staking" the hydrants in their district, including the Industrial Park.
Perron said the hydrant markers cost about $15 each and the cost is shared between the WPCA and the Putnam Fire Department. He added that as the budgets allow, more markers will be purchased.
"The hydrant markers are as a result of last year's heavy snow loading and the hydrants being buried everywhere in town," Perron said.
The intent, he said, is for the fire department to be able to locate hydrants after a snowstorm.
He added that the WPCA does its best to clear hydrants after a snow storm, but if residents, while they're out clearing their driveway and sidewalk, would also consider digging out the hydrants, the fire department's job would be much easier in the event of a structure fire.
"It's very important that homeowners are aware of how important it is for the fire department to locate these hydrants quickly in the event of a structure fire," he said.