Apartment Hydrants - Marked or "

[rgp]

In the late 1970s - early 1980's, Houston was a "boom town" with tens of thousand of new residents. Developes began to build large apartment complexes in open areas and newly annexed communities. When arriving at these complexes, first arriving officers would announce on working fires " all companies- bring your water with you" meaning to lay your own line. However, hydrants were not marked and back-in or unfamiliar companies did not know where the hydrants were. Delays in establishing water supplies led to extra alarm fires. In the 1990's, I proposed we have signs ( at least 12 x 12) with the letters HFD and the number of hydrants in the complex marked on it to make it easier. Though first alarm companies had maps of complexes in their box alarm area, others did not. Also, we marked the hydrants with a blue refective diamond in the driveways ( blue is the barrel color on hydrants). It has worked very well. Though I realize areas with snow plows can/will tear them up, other options are available especially for better and quicker access if they can be hard to find due to parking, shrubs, etc.

[16Scott]

Marking Hydrants

What we have found in business, industrial, or apartment complexes is the number of hydrants can be misleading. Most of our complex hydrants are on small dead end mains. While a complex may have 12 hydrants, they are all on the same loop and may be fed by a single 6" or 8" main. This will provide good flow from one or two hydrants only. Our plan is to supply water from the nearest street main if the complex water isn't enough. We also have tankers that respond on the first alarm in all but the downtown areas, and they are also used to supplement the hydrant supply.

When pre-planning pay close attention to the main size - not only the number of hydrants in the complex.