Greensburg firefighters seek hydrant adopters

The Greensburg Volunteer Fire Department is stepping up its search for residents willing to “adopt” their local fire hydrants with a donation and a bit of elbow grease.

The department started the “adopt-a-hydrant” program about four years ago but has found adopters for less than a third of the city's 324 hydrants.

Residents can donate $25 for a hydrant. This covers the cost of a high-visibility marker, which sticks up above the hydrant and helps firefighters find it even if it's buried in snow.

“This is honestly really the time that we need the hydrants adopted, with the snowfall and all that,” said Rick Steele, president of Greensburg Hose Company No. 7.

Adopters are asked to clear snow and debris from their local hydrant, to make sure firefighters can find and access it easily in case of emergency.

Although the program has been around for years, firefighters have tried to step up awareness in the last few months, Steele said.

Before the cold hit, Steele and others went door-to-door asking for donations. Signs have been placed near a few unadopted hydrants.

“If you pass a hydrant in the city of Greensburg and it doesn't have a high-visiblity marker on it, it has not been adopted,” Steele said.

He has applied for grants to buy markers for unadopted hydrants and plans to work with students from Greensburg Salem High School who have volunteered to paint hydrants.

Door-to-door appeals will probably resume once warm weather returns, Steele said.

Information about the program can be found online at gbgfire.org.

Jacob Tierney is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-6646, jtierney@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Soolseem.