Water Utility

The City of Madison Fire Department and the Madison Water Utility are asking residents and businesses to help in clearing the snow and ice from around fire hydrants adjacent to their property. It's important to have 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.

The City has more than 8,000 hydrants. A map of hydrant locations is at this link: http://www.cityofmadison.com/engineering/documents/CityOfMadison_FireHyd.... Fire Department public information officer Lori Wirth says, "Digging out the hydrant is not only the neighborly think to do, but it is crucial in an emergency for the firefighters to be able to quickly hook up their hoses. And it might save your own house." Neighborhood associations may also want to consider adopting the area fire hydrants to shovel them out.

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.