by Sonia Ahmed The New Haven independent
The city is looking for members of the public to adopt all 2,652 hydrants in New Haven.
Adopters are responsible for trimming the grass around the hydrant, keeping it clear of snow and ice, reporting damage or water leaks, and painting the hydrant. While yellow is the default color for city hydrants, adopters can work with the fire department to pick a hue of their own.
On Monday, Mayor Justin Elicker, Fire Chief John Alston and Asst. Fire Chief Daniel Coughlin joined Umberto 2nd Club (which had adopted its own fire hydrant) members and Youth @ Work participants at 231 Chapel St. for a press conference to discuss the city’s Adopt-A-Hydrant Program.
Residents, businesses, and organizations can adopt a hydrant by filling out this form through the city’s Department of Fire Services with information about where the hydrant is located, their email address, and a phone number.
The Adopt-A-Hydrant program ensures that the hydrants are operable, accessible, and visible, according to Coughlin.
“A fire triples in size every 30 seconds it doesn’t have water on it,” he said, emphasizing the importance of fire hydrants.
Sure enough, not every city fire hydrant is yellow, even though that is the city’s default color.
The New Haven Parking Authority, for example, adopted all the hydrants near their properties and painted them the authority colors, blue and white, according to mayoral spokesperson Lenny Speiller.
The paints can be picked up at any local fire house in the city. Four hundred hydrants have already been adopted by around 80 residents, according to Elicker.
Coughlin added that the fire department is amping up its ticketing of blocked hydrants, and that they are averaging 120 – 150 tickets per month.
“It’s not about getting money, it’s about getting a car away from a hydrant,” Chief Alston said.
In recent years, Youth @ Work program participants have painted around 1,200 hydrants, according to Elicker. 17 Youth @ Work participants were in attendance for Monday’s press conference.
“It just makes me happy because the city is looking brand new, better than it was before,” Youth @ Work participant Shonali Sing said regarding her experience painting hydrants.
Elicker stated that besides the Adopt-A-Hydrant program, the city has allocated $400,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds to replace 50 fire hydrants, with about $8,000 being spent per hydrant.
“There’s a sense of pride that you feel,” Elicker said about painting the fire hydrants. He concluded Monday’s press conference by joining two Youth @ Work participates in repainting a fire hydrant bright yellow.
Fire Chief John Alston.
Mayor Justin Elicker.