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Hydrant testing
I don't know about the rest of you, but we are required to test our hydrants here. The water company does not do it. We do a flow test in the spring and we flush them in the fall.
In any event, you test enough hydrants and eventually you'll see something you really wished you'd never seen. For example - last year a cap blew off a hydrant and landed half way across the street. Most of our hydrants have either a 5" discharge and two 2 1/2" discharges, or just two 5" discharges. This particular plug had two 5" discharges on it. We attached the static pressure cap and opened the hydrant. The other 5" discharge, cap, packing and all blew out into the street. We were fortunate that no one was standing in front of the hydrant. We always try to make sure that all caps are snug, however, this did not matter as the packing and all came out.
Today we were testing hydrants again, when we encountered a major failure of the plug. This particular hydrant had a 5" and two 2 1/2" discharges. We attached the static pressure cap and began to open the hydrant when the collar attaching it to the main failed. The hydrant shot about 3 feet into the air and landed near the main. Once again, we were fortunate no one was injured. Had the member opening the plug been standing over it and the plug come up another foot or more, he probably would have sustained serious facial trauma which could have been fatal.
The purpose of this message is to remind all of you who test hydrants to remain vigilant and safe at all times. NEVER stand in front of a plug that is being opened and NEVER stand over one while opening it.
Stay safe and everyone goes home.
Add a Comment
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Comment by Engine 32 Capt. on June 19, 2008 at 7:28am
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The bolts are still in the collar. The collar itself broke in the middle of one of the halves.
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Comment by Don Zimmerman on June 19, 2008 at 12:16am
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Though I had see it all, where did the bolts go??
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Comment by Capkurt on June 18, 2008 at 6:59pm
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I haven't had any hydrants get launched while testing but we have had a few snapped stems, bent wrenches and other assorted failures. We used to pay a couple of hundred thousand in hydrant "rental" every year to the water dept. We finally got that out of our budget. Seems like other fire depts. have problems with their fire hydrants too.
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Comment by T.j. on June 16, 2008 at 8:13pm
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Coming from a department where we NEVER drafted to one where they had NEVER used hydrants was a big switch. We now have a decent amount of hydrants in our area and this is something I have tried to explain when teaching others how to hit the hydrant. This picture will surely put things into perspective with our members.
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Comment by Irons38 on June 14, 2008 at 2:19pm
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we test our hydrants as well and you are right always be aware of what could happen and this is a perfect of example. I'm glad no one got hurt. Another thing to watch out for is where the water is flowing. Seen to many front yards wash down the street. Beware of your surroundings. Stay Safe.
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Comment by Engineco913 on June 13, 2008 at 5:01pm
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We have encountered interesting plugs in our district. We have some which haven't been used in a while that will bend a hydrant wrench before they open. (the water department has that 1000 gallon tank of never sieze which sucks to get on you) I agree that hydrants are not really considered a safety issue, but like everything else, remaining alert and aware of the potential issues will keep us safer. Great post and reminder.
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