Fake fire hydrants: A growing problem? House fire in West Virginia hampered by impostor plug.
The image above is from video by WOWK-TV photojournalist Robin Spencer who is also a volunteer firefighter. Click here to watch the video.
In Davis Creek, West Virginia Tuesday morning, firefighters say they were hampered in fighting this rip-roaring house fire due to a fake fire hydrant. Here is an excerpt from an article by WSAZ-TV:
It created a very dangerous situation, though, Tuesday morning in Davis Creek. Fire Chief Jeff Snodgrass said his firefighters spent about 15 minutes hooking up to the hydrant and the had to unhook and switch gears to haul in the water.
He said the problem is created because not all hydrants look alike — ones operated by West Virginia American Water are all blue and white. But private hydrants in subdivisions and installed by home owners can be any color of the rainbow.
“People install these for decoration or for the convenience of their pets,” Snodgrass said. “If the fire department is not notified about it, to us — even our trained eye — this fire hydrant looks like a real true fire hydrant.”
It isn’t just the pets. Other homeowners use them for decoration and apparently to defraud insurance companies.
The West Virginia Legislature is working on a bill to have all non-working hydrants painted black and/or covered with a tarp.
Looking at the video from WOWK-TV it appears once the did get water, the fire department had some help (below).
