TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Winter in Michigan is not over yet and emergency agencies want residents to be on alert to keep their nearby fire hydrants clear. Whether you have a fire hydrant in your own yard or there is one a neighbor’s property nearby, the time is now to check them out and make sure that they are clear of snow and ice. In an emergency situation, where seconds count, the access to those hydrants is critical.
A typical house fire can double in size every 30 seconds so the time it takes a firefighter to hook a hose up to a hydrant is immensely important. The two or three minutes it might take them to dig out a hydrant could mean the loss of life in a fire.
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If the snow is soft, the hydrants can be more easily dug out but often during the winter months, things freeze over and the hydrants can get buried in ice. Residents and business owners are being asked to dig them out so when the firefighters show up to put out a fire, they can hook up to the water that they need as quick as possible.
Traverse City Fire Chief Jim Tulles told Up North Live, “We carry about two minutes’ worth of water on the fire truck. So anything beyond a very small fire, we need to connect to a hydrant line and supply that water.”
He went on to say, The line I’m talking about is a five-inch, big yellow hydrant line that hooks to what we call the steamer which is the biggest yellow fitting on a hydrant. So if that hydrant is cleared from the street, up over the curb to the face of the hydrant, about a four-foot wide path – that’s perfect.”
The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulator Affairs (LARA) released a statement from State Fire Marshal Kevin Sehlmeyer urging all Michiganders to help keep fire hydrants and building emergency exits clear of snow and ice for emergency access and egress. He said, “Fire hydrants can quickly disappear especially with the continued accumulation of snow statewide and as snow banks grow taller along Michigan roadways during snow clearing efforts. Precious time is lost when firefighters have to first locate and then dig out a fire hydrant to establish a water supply. This delay can have catastrophic results due to not getting enough water quickly enough to contain and extinguish a fire.”
Another concern is the accumulation of snow and the build-up of carbon monoxide inside a building due to a snow-blocked vent on newer energy efficient heating equipment. This can occur when the PVC vent pipe gets covered with snow – so the snow needs to be cleared away from those vent pipes.
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According to FEMA, in Michigan there are 973 fire departments currently registered with the National Fire Department Registry with 2023 data showing that 62.4% of them are volunteer and 23.3% are mostly volunteer. In 2022, 99 home fire fatalities were reported in Michigan by the news media.
