Clear fireplugs of snow, safety officials advise
Before you wrap up your snow-clearing chores - if there's a fire hydrant near your dwelling, take a little time to be sure it's accessible. That's the advice from Toms River Fire Safety administrators and SUEZ (formerly United Water Toms River).
The main reason is simple - if a building is burning, time is critical, and the time for digging out a fireplug in a crisis could mean life or death.
Jim Mercready, Toms River Fire Prevention Director, said, "It's critical to maintain sustainable water supplies to battle fires and especially important that our fire department personnel can quickly locate fire hydrants."
SUEZ Director of Operations Jim Mastrokalos adds that there should be clearance an all sides of fireplugs, to give hoses expansion room.
Mercready also issued a reminder to keep vehicles parked at least 15 feet from hydrants.
Report leaking, broken or malfunctioning fire hydrants to SUEZ's customer service center, 877-565-1456.