New York City, with its dense population and endless skyscrapers, is notoriously difficult to fight fires in. Firefighters depend on nearly 100,000 hydrants to do their work, but many of these hydrants are in disrepair. Vulnerable to misuse and exposed to extreme weather, the city’s hydrants are decayed, leaking, and corroding, reports theverge.com.
“There are so many defected hydrants,” says Vincent Dunn, a retired Deputy Chief of New York City Fire Department. “In the ’70s it was so prevalent that we developed a radio signal – 1070. It meant the first arriving engine didn’t have water because of a defective hydrant. Other fire trucks would stretch out hoses and assist the first pumper with water.” But when a fire is blazing, every second spent stretching hoses is a second that could be used to save lives.
George Sigelakis, a retired New York City firefighter, understood the need for a hydrant redesign early on in his career. “A hydrant is a lifeline to a firefighter,” he says. “You can have manpower and millions of dollars worth of trucks and equipment, but without water out of a hydrant, you can’t do anything.”
Conventional hydrants are made up of steel, iron, and rubber parts. “In an environment with water, all three of those things don’t hold up over time,” says Sigelakis. Some hydrants are cracked open and tampered with by residents looking to gain respite from the heat, or water to wash their cars. As a result, hydrants are caught in an endless cycle of maintenance. Repainting and repairing costs are in the millions of dollars. “Its a great business for manufacturers who make these hydrants,” Sigelakis says. “They keep selling parts. But, lives are at stake.”
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