Distance between Fire hydrants in your area?

[560Dennis]

We been walking 6 up and back for better  endurance after surgery . I think yours are 500 feet. 
what are they in your section ?

[snoshoe]

Oh about 10 miles but the river is about 100 yards.

[Dirt_Floor_Poor]

If your house catches on fire here, it burns down. 

[lotsaIHCs]

I'd say about 12 miles. Unless there is a hydrant in the tiny town about 7 miles away. I don't think they have a municipal water supply. I've been there hundreds of times since I was a little kid but I can't honestly say I've ever noticed whether there are hydrants there. There are no businesses in town so I never go there except to drive through for a look every couple of years.

[vtfireman85]

We have 4 dry hydrants in a 6 mile stretch along the creek and they are a reliable source, there are 3 more spread around 2 towns we cover, it can be a problem getting enough water, we have 2 and working on 3 tankers to buffer the lack of easily accessible water sources. 

[dale560]

There is an engineering formula for how far they are and what flow. Generally 500 feet to a 1000 in less homes areas. The reasoning is the amount of hose a pumper truck carries is either 5 or 600 feet normally. They want to be able to reach a property in the middle area so 500 feet is what they usually want.  Another thing in small to medium size towns do the hydrants work? Most municipal workers are very unskilled so hydrants don’t get tested and just get valves off if they leak.

[dale560]

Also I work for a rural water district. We serve about 10 small towns population 500 or less. The very smallest we do the curb stops and hydrants. The other towns is just bulk water fill into their reservoirs. All the towns are forced to realize they have no fire protection reserves anymore. The simple fact is the size of line and pressure is impractical to provide fire protection. The amount of water they have in their towers or reservoir is the amount of fire protection water they have. Most have about 20,000 gals of water but that’s not much on a big structure fire.

[1256pickett]

Depends on where the tanker is parked. Pretty much all dry hydrants around here, I think closest is mile and a half from me. There might be a regular hydrant or two in town but they have a dry hydrant right across from the fire hall at the lake outlet. Most mutual aid fire calls are for tankers, all the county departments work pretty good together. The two or three big towns don’t get called out much for fires because there pumpers don’t have enough suction, they do have hydrants and rely on the pressure from the city. 

[mader656]

Bout 12 miles to the closest water source big enough to fill a truck. Closest place to pump would be 15.

[lotsaIHCs]

1 hour ago, dale560 said:

There is an engineering formula for how far they are and what flow. Generally 500 feet to a 1000 in less homes areas. The reasoning is the amount of hose a pumper truck carries is either 5 or 600 feet normally. They want to be able to reach a property in the middle area so 500 feet is what they usually want.  Another thing in small to medium size towns do the hydrants work? Most municipal workers are very unskilled so hydrants don’t get tested and just get valves off if they leak.

When my dad ran the city water department part of his yearly maintenance was to flush the hydrants. Besides making sure they all worked, it also flushed the water mains out. The people in town didn't like it much since it made the water cloudy until everything made it through the pipes. But at least he knew everything was working and a lot of rust was flushed from the water mains. He was also fire chief at that time.

[Chester5732]

2 hours ago, Dirt_Floor_Poor said:

If your house catches on fire here, it burns down. 

We have a pretty good team of basement savers here, unless it’s wood.  

[vtfireman85]

5 minutes ago, Chester5732 said:

We have a pretty good team of basement savers here, unless it’s wood.  

Why don’t you join up and show them how it’s done. 

[whweldit]

1/2 mile to closest one.   Live about 2 miles from local volunteer fire station.  Well equipped.  House I am in was built in 1918 using heart pine cut and milled from here on the farm. Have told my insurance agent more than once if the fire dept members were in the trucks with the engines running and my house caught on fire, it would burn down.  Neighbor about 1 mile from here lived in similar house. Lightning hit it.  Must have been 20 fire trucks showed up from the 3 area departments.  No telling how much water was poured on the house.  They saved the propane tank and the dug well.  

[Chester5732]

1 hour ago, vtfireman85 said:

Why don’t you join up and show them how it’s done. 

They have it handled. If my house catches on fire I don’t want to clean up a half burned mess. Or be like the neighbor lady whose house burned and the insurance company built her a brand new house on the old foundation. 

[Reichow7120]

About 4 miles west of me in town.  Other than that. What's a Fire Hydrant 

Kalamazoo River is about a mile away. It's been pumped from numerous times for fires around me. 

October 2018 Neighbor had a barn burn during the night. One of the trucks punching the gas pedal leaving after dumping water and was heading back to the river to get more was what woke me up to what was going on. 

Wife grew up in town so she had never seen how its done without hydrants. Amazed at just watching the constant coming and going of firetrucks hauling water. It was a bigger fire. It pulled 7 departments

 

[cobfly]

What's a fire hydrant?

[Takn4aFool]

2 hours ago, cobfly said:

What's a fire hydrant?

a place for dogs to relieve themselves

[TomH]

2 hours ago, Takn4aFool said:

a place for dogs to relieve themselves

I bring dogs when I travel to visit family. Several interstate rest stops have dog walk areas and many have a (non functioning) fire hydrant in the middle. It works, they go!

Fairly recently we had a hydrant 1/4 mile down the road installed. Area got too built up and water lines and hydrants were added.

[acem]

Fire hydrants are rare to non existent in the country here. We have rural water but the lines are small. There are a few dry hydrants but not many.  Most towns have a few hydrants. There's probably one about  a mile from here in the nearby town.

The rural fire department's have tanker trucks to carry water here. I think every rural firehouse has at least one tanker inside filled and ready to go. They all pull together on a fire and help each other out.

On big fires I've  seen semi tankers from a local oil field service company hauling water for them. These trucks can vacuum 8000 gallons  of water up from the  River. Pretty sure they don't charge the fire departments. It's rarely needed.

 

[TroyDairy]

We dont have any for miles.  Like 5 maybe closest one

[sandhiller]

Fire hydrant s in Cody. Don't know how far apart. Scattered around.

Rural, we have four 6x6 tenders, 1500 to 2000 gallon capacity.

One 3000 gallon semi/straight truck

All trucks are draft capable. River , creeks, stock tanks. Can load themselves if needed

Those with center pivot irrigation. If the well is easily accessible, will have a valve and 2" line so we can kick the well on and bottom fill any of our trucks.

Water is King 

[New Englander]

Water line was installed in the road in the '60s. We're still on a well due distance to road and pond crossing needed. Hydrant is conveniently at the end of the driveway. It's coded red so I guess the flow is on the low side. Pond in front of the house was built in the '20s by damming a small stream. I guess we'll have enough water. Local department, somewhat unfairly, has a reputation for saving the cellar hole and chimney but Portsmouth is next door with big equipment and can knock down a structure fire.

[jeeper61]

No water system in my town.

There is a pipe in a small river about a mile away for the them to refill from.

New developments have to catch the run off and store in underground tanks for fire protection.

[tntractor]

about 1000'

 

[Lazy WP]

I try to keep 4 totes full of water, as well as a couple stock tanks that hold nearly 1000 gallons. 
Our well will run out after about 200 gallons, so at least during the summer I store water. I also have a pond 1/4 mile north that is easy to get to.