NYC FFs 21st CENTURY HYDRANT.

[68jk09]

http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/24/6828043/finally-a-fire-hydrant-for-the-21st-century

 

[Bulldog]

It's certainly a cool looking design but I'm not really sure if it's that much better than what's used today!  With the recessed location of the heads of the outlets and top of the hydrant it seems like you would have a large potential for collecting ice and other frozen matter to prevent wrench access.  Even in dirty areas dirt could become packed in making access very hard.  That top piece with the snow pole looks nice but it's going to be a great thing to get vandalized and stolen very rapidly!

In reality if you look at existing hydrants they work very well.  Only a very small percentage don't function when required and in most cases the reason for not being functional is due to vandalism which will happen with any hydrant design that's easy enough to be rapidly used by firefighters!

The bottom line is I'm not sure that these are worth the additional cost for what they accomplish!  It's certainly nice to see somebody, especially firefighter developing new products but in this case I don't think the product will solve that money problems.

 

[raybrag]

Long Beach in Nassau County has decided . . . wthout consulting the Fire Department . . . to install these throughout the city.  The Fire Department is furious . . . they want no part of it.  Worst of all, there seems to be no plan to provide neighboring departments (who have mutual aid responsibility in Long Beach) with the non-standard wrenches that are required to operate the hydrants.  It's my understanding (without knowing for sure) that FDNY has rejected these as impractical for their use.

 

[FDNY793727]

Well hey, it is Nassau County after all (although I do realize LBFD had nothing to do with the installations). I was also wondering how difficult it would be removing those smooth outlet heads with gloves, especially on an icy winter night. It might be a little difficult to get a good grip. And obviously the issue with ice and snow getting packed in. A snow plow pushing a slushy snow would jam it in pretty good and the responsible homeowner who clears the hydrant would still be out of luck. Hopefully this can be resolved before a major incident.

 

[Bulldog]

Long Beach in Nassau County has decided . . .

Well they do look better and I'm sure that's critical for Nassau County!  I was also wondering about the mutual aid issue with the special wrenches.  Any idea how expensive the wrenches are?  My guess is they are quite expensive because of the limited demand.

 

[mack]

What do they cost?  To install?  To maintain?  If they were equal in price (or close) and if there was some return on investment (cheaper to maintain), maybe they would sell. 

Will dogs like them?

 

[raybrag]

Will dogs like them?

Good grief, Joe . . . you hit the single most important issue with them!  How did everyone else miss that?  ;D : ;D

 

[fltpara16]

Showed a picture of the hydrants to two dogs.  Both gave paws down?

 

[jlab]

The main thing I beleive that should be added to the existing design is the use of Storz connections.

 

[Bulldog]

Since jlab reopened this old thread I have to have, has this type of hydrant been adopted in many areas?

 

[skiLB]

It's certainly a cool looking design but I'm not really sure if it's that much better than what's used today! With the recessed location of the heads of the outlets and top of the hydrant it seems like you would have a large potential for collecting ice and other frozen matter to prevent wrench access. Even in dirty areas dirt could become packed in making access very hard. That top piece with the snow pole looks nice but it's going to be a great thing to get vandalized and stolen very rapidly!

In reality if you look at existing hydrants they work very well. Only a very small percentage don't function when required and in most cases the reason for not being functional is due to vandalism which will happen with any hydrant design that's easy enough to be rapidly used by firefighters!

The bottom line is I'm not sure that these are worth the additional cost for what they accomplish! It's certainly nice to see somebody, especially firefighter developing new products but in this case I don't think the product will solve that money problems.

Good article read. Not sure if will see due to amount of money invested in replacement parts stated in article. Plus 50 year guarantee no rust or freezing didn't see in article what & how research & testing came with it. But I wish him nothing but the best & future for company if helps the brothers. Long Beach has em not sure any other Long Island towns have them haven't seen them around driving around.