Fire hydrants
rate between 500 and 999 gallons per minute. The green top indicates a flow of 1,000 gallons per minute up to 1,499 gallons per minute, and the light blue top indicates a flow rate over 1,500 gallons per minute.
“We try to hook up to what they used to call the steamer connection. We do hook to the largest outlet possible to give us the largest amount of flow. That’s why most departments have switched to a 5-inch diameter hose. Basically, what you are doing when you catch a hydrant going to a fire, you are laying an above-ground water main. You are moving a large amount of water. You have put a fire main on top of the ground to the structure,” Smith said.
Most fire hydrants come with three outlets, two on the sides are designed to attach 2-and-a-half or 3-inch fire hoses while the large cap on the front is designed to connect 5-inch diameter hoses. That connection is the steamer connection Smith referred to. The nickname is a throw-back to the old days in the fire service when fire engines were steam-powered.
The water that can flow through a fire hydrants depends on the water pressure in the water main as well as the size of the water main itself. For a fire in a standard home, almost any fire hydrant will supply enough water to fight a fire. In larger structures or with very large fires encompassing multiple structures, maximum water flow is needed.
Most fire engines can pump between 1,000 and 2,000 gallons per minute. The large diameter hoses, deck guns that are usually mounted atop fire engines, and nozzles atop ladder trucks can deliver water up to 1,000 gallons per minute.
Older fire hydrants might have only two of the 2-and-a-half-inch connecyears, tions. Though most departments no longer carry the smaller hoses for laying to a hydrant, departments have adapters that still allow the hydrants to be useful.
Northport Fire Chief Bart Marshall said, “We prefer all of them to have the steamer connection, but we have adapters that hook to the 2-and-a-half-inch connection that adapts it to a 5-inch hose. For residential we will have plenty of water for that. For the bigger buildings, commercial structures, we need the 5-inch for that.”
Northport uses the same color recognition system as Tuscaloosa, but uses a colored band around the top of the hydrant rather than painting the entire top.
Fire hydrants and homeowners insurance
Fire hydrants make a major difference for homeowners in Tuscaloosa, Northport, and in some areas of Tuscaloosa County. Both Tuscaloosa and Northport fire services were recently rated by the International Standards Organization and those ratings affect homeowner insurance rates.
Tuscaloosa was evaluated as a Class 2 department. Northport is currently at Class 3 but has not received the results from the most recent evaluation.
“We just went a rating just like Tuscaloosa did and haven’t gotten our results in yet. In 2013, we went to a three. We are waiting on our results, so we hope we get a two. We think we have a good chance to get a two when the results are in,” Marshall said.
Tuscaloosa’s Class 2 rating is a slight improvement over a rating given in 2015, though it was also a Class 2 then. Smith said the department has made improvements and continues to work toward the Class 1 rating.
“We are doing really well. We are in the upper tier, but not in the highest tier. We are not a Class 1 yet. We are about four points from a Class 1. We are working towards getting that rating. In five when we do our next ISO evaluation, we hope to be able to gain a Class 1,” Smith said.
Many factors go into the rating such as training, personnel, equipment, the water system and other factors related to fire protection. The lower the rating, the better the homeowners insurance premium can be.
“You get to use the city’s homeowner’s rate when you live within 5 miles of a fire station and when you are within a thousand feet of a fire hydrant,” Smith said.
For those who live in the police jurisdiction of both Tuscaloosa and Northport, the insurance rating can still apply if they live within a mile and a half of a volunteer department and a thousand feet of a fire hydrant.
“Tuscaloosa County is the only county I know of in the state that is required to provide protection in the police jurisdiction. We treat the PJ just like the city limits so people within the PJ have to follow the same ordinances as people in the city,” Marshall said.
Reach Gary Cosby Jr. at gary.cosby@tuscaloosanews.com.