Charlottetown crews dig out fire hydrants
Some city fire hydrants buried under heavy snow
Close to 1,200 fire hydrants in Charlottetown are being dug out after being covered, even buried in recent snowstorms.
Crews have been digging them out for the past four days and have a few more days of work ahead of them. Some of the hydrants were barely visible even with the tall markers.
"Some take quite an effort to find them under the snow. There are some times we'll find 12 feet of snow where a fire hydrant is," said Craig Walker, Charlottetown's water and sewer utility manager.
"It's buried well and takes us quite a few hours just to locate the hydrant and then start to work around it."
Walker said last's weeks storms have made crews works a bit tough but they are managing. The snow is heavy and often packed.
"We plan that once the first street is cleared we follow with our own crews and contracted equipment to make the fire hydrants accessible. It usually gets started the day after the city streets are first open by the public work crews."
Kent Mitchell, a fire inspector with Charlottetown Fire Department said having access to a fire hydrant is critical.
The fire department has a water truck but needs access to the fire hydrants.