City’s DEP Turning Up The ‘HEAT’ On Fire Hydrant Safety
Opening a fire hydrant to keep cool may be tempting, but
before you do, there are a few things you should know. That’s why a group of young
people is hard at work making sure you remain refreshed, but out of trouble.
Open fire hydrants during summer heat waves are a part of
New York City culture, but doing so without a spray cap is illegal and
dangerous.
“It comes out at 1,000 gallons per minute. It’s very fast
and it can push kids into traffic, it can flood businesses, it can flood
streets and if enough are open, in fact, we will have a drop in water pressure
and it can be hard to fight fires,” said DEP Commissioner Carter Strickland.
So to warn people about the dangers, the DEP’s HEAT team
— which stands for Hydrant Education Action Team — canvasses the five boroughs
educating residents, CBS 2′s Chris Wragge reported.
The team consists of 48 participants.
“Their main goal and purpose is to reach out to the
different businesses and residents that live in these areas about the abuse of
fire hydrants,” said HEAT project coordinator Tyza Perdomo.
The key point of their message is to put a spray cap on
the hydrants and not waste the water. A spray cap uses only 10 to 25 gallons
per minute as opposed to one thousand.
You can get a spray cap from your local firehouse.
In addition to one-on-one chats, HEAT members hand out
fliers and hang posters. They even call 311 to report illegally open hydrants.
Residents applaud their efforts.
Violators can face fines of up to a $1,000 and up to 30
days in jail or both.
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