The City of Madison Fire Department and the Madison Water Utility are asking residents and businesses to help in keeping fire hydrants clear of ice and snow.

It's important to clear a minimum of three feet around the hydrant to give the fire department room to work and to get quick access in case of a fire. If a hydrant is lost or buried in snow, firefighters can lose valuable time trying to locate it when they first arrive at a fire.

Neighborhood associations may also want to consider adopting the area fire hydrants to shovel them out after heavy snowfalls. A map of hydrant locations is at this link: http://www.cityofmadison.com/engineering/documents/CityOfMadison_FireHyd....

The Water Utility also asks that if residents see a damaged hydrant or water flowing down the street, they should call the utility's emergency dispatcher at 266-4661 to report the problem so that repairs can be made.