Your Backyard Forest - Protect Your Property From Wildfire

When a fire department responds to a fire in a rural area, access to domestic water supplies may not be readily available. This situation can impair a fire department’s ability to protect life and property. You can minimize the distance fire trucks must travel to municipal water supplies or draft sites, by installing a dry hydrant on your property. Ponds, lakes, streams, canals, and irrigation wells can become sources of water for firefighting.
A dry fire hydrant is a nonpressurized pipe system permanently installed in an existing water source to provide easy access to water from the main road. The dry hydrant can be made of any hard, permanent material however, PVC is most commonly used due to price, accessibility, and low friction-loss performance. The other elements of the system include an intake filtration section, and a hydrant head with suction screen and cap. Besides improved fire protection, benefits of having a dry fire hydrant include lower property insurance rates.
For more information on dry hydrants, contact the Soil and Water Conservation District to find your local Resource Conservation and Develop Council, the State Forestry agency or local fire department.