EVANSDALE, Iowa (AP) -- Old fire hydrants used as decoration are causing concern for fire officials in this town near Waterloo.
One, which is painted yellow and bordered by pink flowers resembles the size and location of a nearby working hydrant. City hydrants are generally painted red.
The differences might be hard to notice during an emergency, Fire Chief Kent Smock said.
``At 3 in the morning when it's dark, you pull up to a fire and all you see is the shadow of a hydrant,'' Smock said. ``You're not going to be able to tell the difference.''
The yellow fire hydrant is in Dan McCready's front yard.
``I figure I'll leave it there until an inspector comes or something, then I'd move it back or paint it a different color,'' he said. ``There's not much else you can do with it.''
A faded red hydrant has been in front of Aten Septic Tank & Sewer Service for at least 17 years, said owner Mary Aten.
``We bought it ourselves. It's just for decoration,'' Aten said. ``(The hydrant) is inside the property line, not on city property, where it could be mistaken for one of their hydrants.''
A third green and yellow hydrant is on a small cement slab about 20 feet inside the homeowner's yard.
