VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — What do you know about the fire hydrants on your street? Virginia Beach has both private and public hydrants.
“The private fire hydrants are red barrels with blue caps and bonnets. The public fire hydrants are red with white caps and bonnets,” explained Virginia Beach Assistant Fire Marshal Deidra Peterson.
Peterson said the decision to have both public and private hydrants came about in the 1980s by the Public Utilities Director.
The Virginia Beach Fire Department and the City of Virginia Beach Public Utilities maintain public hydrants. Private hydrants are maintained by private companies.
“The difference is really where they are located, besides who maintains them and owns them. The private fire hydrants are located on private property, whereas public fire hydrants, they are located within the city right-of-way or in public easements,” Peterson said.
Private hydrants are usually found in apartment complexes or near homes with homeowners associations. The property management company or your property owners association is responsible for the inspection, maintenance, and testing of all the blue cap hydrants on its property. Most of the time, management companies hire fire protection agencies to make sure every hydrant is working properly.
Hiller Systems Service Manager, Ron Foster said crews inspect fire hydrants all the time.
He said, “We look for three-foot clearance around the hydrant to make sure the fire department can gain access without obstruction. We manipulate the metal on top of the hydrant to ensure it opens and closes like it should.”
Companies that maintain private hydrants are expected to complete annual expectations along with five-year inspections. Foster said they turn that information over to the Fire Marshal’s Office.
“We are in and out very quickly, usually in 10 to 15 minutes. We are guided by a book that governed and we follow the process step-by-step,” Foster said.
According to Peterson, public hydrants are flow-tested every five years like private hydrants. Officials want to make sure the hydrants are ready to fight fire in an emergency.
Peterson said the difference is more than 10,000 public fire hydrants are not tested every single year.
She explained, “Just because there are so many throughout the city, there’s just no way we could feasibly do them ... every single year. They are done on a three-year rotation.”
The big question: does the difference between hydrants mean a difference in safety?
“As long as the problems are identified and repaired, a public hydrant is as safe as a private hydrant,” Foster said.
Peterson added, “They are maintained just as good. The fire department does the same type of inspection as a private contractor would for a private hydrant.”
Peterson said when it comes to an emergency, firefighters don’t care if they hydrant is blue or white.