Sudbury firefighters dig out hydrants: ‘Every second counts’

Sudbury volunteer firefighters are digging out hydrants buried by snow, with city crews tackling the critical task; the deputy chief says every second counts.

As public works crews work to clear snow from roads in Greater Sudbury, firefighters are doing the same thing for fire infrastructure.

For the past three days, volunteer firefighters in Garson have been shovelling to clear out fire hydrants. They’ve worked their way through more than three-quarters of that community.

“Obviously, there’s a lot of competing priorities with snow removal right now,” said deputy fire chief Nathan Melin.

“So, anything fire services can do to help out the community … This is one big portion that we’re doing, by attempting to uncover all these fire hydrants.”

On Friday, Melin visited a crew while they were on Catherine Drive. He said Greater Sudbury Fire Services has asked career and volunteer firefighters to dig out fire hydrants in their own neighbourhood.

“In a fire, especially structure fires, every minute counts,” he said.

“So, it’s very crucial that hydrant … No. 1, that you can observe where it is and it is accessible.”

A covered hydrant “may cause delays which could cause further damage to the structure and potentially, if there is a rescue or evacuation required,” Melin added.

He is also asking residents to do their part to help.

“You never know when a fire is going to happen, so we’ll need those accessed,” Melin said.

“Every second counts, so it’s critical that (the hydrants) are exposed.”

With 6,300 fire hydrants across the entire City of Greater Sudbury, he estimates it could take two to three weeks to expose all of them.

But so far, he said fire crews haven’t been to a fire call where the nearest hydrant was buried under snow.

Meanwhile, 2,300 fire hydrants in Sault Ste. Marie are the responsibility of PUC Services, which tries to keep them accessible in all types of weather.

The other 400 hydrants are privately owned and maintained by property owners.

PUC spokesperson Lauren MacGillivray said it’s hard to say how many need to be cleared after Monday’s storm.

“It is a continuous process throughout the winter and also that’s because weather conditions such as drifting, new snowfall, frequently require crews to revisit previously cleared locations. That’s why it’s difficult to give out a specific number,” MacGillivray said.

She said PUC has a plan to manage the hydrants efficiently through four operational zones.

She said it’s just not possible to monitor all 2,300 hydrants at once, which is why PUC partners with Sault Fire Services to encourage residents to become “hydrant heroes.”

That’s a program in which residents adopt a hydrant in their neighbourhood and help keep it clear of snow throughout the winter.

Each hydrant is supposed to have a coloured marker sticking up from the bonnet to denote where it’s located.