Mass. Guard Helping Firefighters Dig Out Hydrants

Imagine firefighters pulling up to a burning home, only to spend their first 15 minutes on scene frantically digging for a fire hydrant hidden in the snow.

Now consider that fires double in size about once a minute, according to Ipswich Fire Chief Gregory Gagnon.

It’s a nightmare scenario facing fire departments throughout the North Shore. Hydrants are buried so well by snowbanks, firefighters are using metal detectors, maps and even the National Guard to unearth them.

“The state sent a couple Hummers with four National Guard guys today,” Beaudet said. “They’re out with a couple of our crews.”

Beaudet said it was a first for him after 28 years as a firefighter.

One crew was set up on Essex Street, which cuts across downtown Salem.

The other Hummer was at Salem High School, which had several hydrants hidden by the snow on school grounds, according to Beaudet.

Many area hydrants have already been dug out, then dug out again, only to be hidden by snow plows a few days later.

“Since the blizzard, we’ve basically been having guys out every day to uncover them,” Gagnon said. “Some of these hydrants have been uncovered two or three times.”

There are more than 8,600 fire hydrants throughout the communities covered by The Salem News.

Cities and towns asked to report how many of those were uncovered yesterday afternoon could do little more than guess or provide an estimate. Most said about half were still buried.

“That’s hard to tell,” Beverly Fire Chief Paul Cotter said. “One thing we’ve never really kept track of is how many the citizens do.”

Departments are using their own manpower to clear hydrants on the busiest, most critical roads before moving on to side roads and neighborhoods — where some hydrants may have been buried since the first storm more than two weeks ago.

Beverly fire crews can clear about 100 hydrants a day. With about 1,500 hydrants throughout the city, it would take more than two weeks for the department to uncover every single one, according to Cotter.

“Most of them take at least 20 minutes to uncover,” Cotter said.

Peabody Fire Deputy Paul Hinchion called the work “almost impossible.”

Because of that, Peabody has joined every other community in asking residents to uncover hydrants as they come across them, according to Hinchion.

In a community like Topsfield, where there are only two crews on duty already responding to medical and carbon monoxide calls, residents are critical for what they can accomplish, department Captain Jen Collins-Brown said.

“This is totally out of control,” Collins-Brown said of the situation.

Most local communities said they haven’t had to face a fire recently.

Salem and Ipswich told stories of recent fires knocked down quickly.

Salem fire crews were at a small blaze Wednesday morning that was knocked down without the need of a hydrant. But they found one nearby, on Beacon Street, that they could hook a line to just in case, Fire Deputy Glenn Beaudet said.

Ipswich crews were sent to a larger fire at a restaurant on Hammatt Street Sunday morning, and a hydrant was “ready to go,” Gagnon said.

Danvers Fire Chief Kevin Farrell said his town hasn’t faced a problem yet, but he feels the department’s luck may be running out.

In Peabody, Boy Scouts recently added four-foot metal poles to the top of the city’s hydrants, according to Hinchion. Even those are buried.

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CLEAR OUT THOSE HYDRANTS

Fire hydrants are a critical resource for crews responding to fires.

Departments recommend clearing out a hydrant by about three feet in every direction, enough to allow a firefighter in full gear to hook up to three lines to the hydrant.

Hydrants can also be easily re-buried by a passing plow. Tying some colored strapping to the hydrant can make it easier to locate in the future.

For residents who can’t find hydrants nearby, call your fire department’s business line to ask where it where the closest one is located.

Size of the problem

HYDRANTS BY COMMUNITY

PEABODY: 1,883

DANVERS: About 1,700

BEVERLY: About 1,500

SALEM: 1,000 to 1,100

IPSWICH: About 750

SWAMPSCOTT: 459

MIDDLETON: More than 400

HAMILTON: 300 to 400