Discussion of Report on “Uniform Marking of Fire Hydrants”

Abstract

report, which report is printed in this issue of the Journal. In order that this discussion might present something of value, I held several conferences with ten or twelve of Indiana's fire protection and fire prevention authorities and the thoughts which are now presented represent the views of these men based on several hours of careful consideration of this subject. At the outset I desire to say that all of the men present at our conferences are sympathetic to the general idea of hydrant testing and are wholeheartedly in favor of any plan which will increase the efficiency of the public and private fire protection service. They are wholeheartedly in favor of a careful study of the distribution maps and believe that every fire and water department should be thoroughly conversant with the location and sizes of all mains and hydrants and the quantity of water available for fire protection service at given locations. They are likewise wholeheartedly in favor of 100 percent cooperation between the fire and water departments to the end that efficient fire service may be rendered and property safeguarded. It is our thought that this suggested uniform marking of fire hydrants is of more importance to the smaller town where outside aid is needed at the time of threatened conflagration than it is to the larger towns, and we do not want to see any standard adopted which will in any way be detrimental to the fire protection interests in the larger cities. Many of the leading cities with adequate water supplies paint their hydrants yellow the best color for visibility, but under the suggested plan of hydrant marking yellow hydrants will be classed as sub-standard, or Class В hydrants. In other words,