9 Times People Parked Next To Fire Hydrants And Regretted It Later
Finding the perfect parking spot is the bane of every driver’s existence and but sometimes the desire for the closest spot can put others in danger. You’ve seen it, people illegally parking in front of fire hydrants for easy access, but firefighters are teaching these inconsiderate parkers that this is a matter of life and death.
Two months ago some New Jersey firefighters posted a photo of a car with the windows smashed and a hose snaked through with the caption, “This is what happens when you park in front of a hydrant. This was taken last night at the fire on Norway Avenue in the Bromley section of Hamilton. Reminder, it is against the law to park in front of a fire hydrant.”
Like it or not this expensive vehicle damage was well-deserved. Hydrants play a key role in firefighting, as the trucks themselves can only carry 500 gallons of water – enough to put out a “dumpster fire.” Station manager Martyn Hare of the Essex County Fire and Rescue Service re-iterated that convenience is not worth a life.
“We appreciate that people want to park outside their homes and aren’t doing it deliberately, but they have to help us help them,” said Hare, “We are asking residents to consider whether their parking could be putting lives at risk.”
Scroll down below to see photos of bad drivers who learned their lesson about hydrant parking the hard way.
Parking in front of a fire hydrant may seem convenient but it can put people’s lives in danger
Firefighters must be able to access these hydrants immediately and won’t hesitate to make your vehicle the victim of some collateral damage
Image credits: cityofmerced
Image credits: cityofmerced
Hydrants are essential in the firefighting process, as the trucks can only carry 500 gallons of water which is enough to put out a “dumpster fire”
Image credits: cityofmaryesther
Reconsider the next time you see that “open” hydrant parking spot, so your selfish parking doesn’t end up costing a life
Image credits: WOWT NBC
Image credits: nbcphiladelphia
Image credits: nbcphiladelphia
Image credits: wcvb
Image credits: nj
People were less than sympathetic to those with destroyed cars and hoped they had learned their lesson
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Alright. SO I read this story on Quora.com so im not so sure how true this is. But somebody said that they used to be a construction worker and one day, the building across the street from his/her construction site caught fire. When the fire department arrived, they found somebody had parked infront of the hydrant. So, the fire men called over the construction teams bulldozer and with permission from the police, bulldozed the car out of the way.
Easy... It takes too long. We need to be in action in a matter of minutes.
Load More Replies...
I have a technical question. Why are typical US hydrants equipped with a permanent standpipe? Hydrants over here are simply covers in the pavement, and firefighters bring their standpipe with them. This seems to be much more flexible, and standpipes to not take away space when not in use...
How do they locate them under the snow? Ohio here and it’s either 90 degrees or 2 feet of snow.
Load More Replies...
go ahead, call your insurance to make a claim against this, rates go up up up
Sadly that is not true. I say sadly because these people definitely deserve to have their rates raised. But in most cases, glass is covered under insurance and won't raise your rates. I work in insurance.
Load More Replies...
Isn't faster to go around the car with the hose than to brake 2 car windows and struggle to pass the hose through them?
To fight a fire on the ground, a fire hose needs about 150 pounds pet square inch of water pressure. To reach the 30th floor of a building the pressure needs to be at least 300 psi to offset the effects if elevation. If anything, the car offers extra stability for the hose.
Load More Replies...
Aw don't worry...the tax payers will fix it. Hmm.
Load More Replies...
I mean, it sucks if you really truly didn't know a hydrant was there...but you really need to pay more attention when you are driving a freakin vehicle!!
The hydrant is on the driver's side. Unless you exited your car through the passenger door, the hydrant was right in front of you.
Load More Replies... Idiots! Got what they deserve for slowing down firefighters doing their jobs.
you would think they could put a couple of bollards fairly close to the side of the road - say 4 ft each side of the hydrant so idiots would be physically unable to park in front of it
Load More Replies...
I think its necessary. I had the question regarding the hose and whether it could go under (have you tried crawling under a vehicle), over or around but I looked at the attachment to secure the hose and it obviously needs room. The hose does have insane water pressure but if they get bent against the cars would it not mess with pressure?! I'm going to go to my local firehall, (yay), and ask them about what they do when a car is in front of a hydrant. I'm in Vancouver, BC and maybe they do it differently.
On some pictures, it looks like there would have been a possibility to route the pipe round the car...teaching them a lesson?
I saw a guy at one of these with his elbow and hand on fire. The police arrested him for having a firearm.
Wow one of the cars was marked "mayor"....I guess they felt entitled to put their constituents in danger...
They should break their windows even when it is not absolutely necessary!
A good way to make understanding the moron that the reserved parking for firefighter is NOT a luxury parking for them.......maybe drastic, and for sure they will never do it a second time.
A real life reenactment of a scene from the movie Backdraft. When the fire fighter (Scott Glenn) did the honors, everyone in the theater clapped and cheered. I think fire fighters should stove in the wind shield, too, just for stuff and grins. "Oooops, missed. My bad."
I didn't have to ask, just googled my city's bylaws on it. Fire crews need to be able to see the hydrant from the street, they need 3 meters from the hydrant to work, they don't work with city bylaws so they can't tow said car, they don't intentionally want to ruin your car but they have one (very important) job to do, they say three meters because everything around the hose gets drenched (imagine winter conditions), and you will be blocked in for as long as they are there. Phew! Thanks Vancouver bylaws.
So...we don't have fire hydrants in the UK. I guess we just have the little metal covers in the pavement, have to admit I've never seen a fire engine in action so I don't know. But it's not illegal to park next to one of these. What happens then?
They are obviously doing it to prove a point, if you look at the photos it would take more time to smash out the windows then snake the hose through the car window and out the the other side, instead of just tossing the hose over the roof, which just seems vindictive, check out the photo of the minivan, they actually pass it through the window and then make a 180 and the hose flows back in the opposite direction .....still you shouldn't park in front of a hydrant and no sympathy for the drivers in these cases.
I agree people shouldn't block hydrants. That being said, in nearly every one of the photos provided, there was no actual need to break the windows and run the hose through the interior of the vehicle. In some of the photos, this was actually making a more complicated and unnecessary route for the hose than if they had simply gone over the top of the car's roof, trunk or hood, underneath, or around the front or back. I understand they caused this damage to make a point. But let's learn to look at what we see in photos objectively!
Im wondering if at least one person argued with the firemen because "you toke out my windows for a stupid fire!"
Yes people should not park there, but many of these are wanton vandalism. The hoses could have gone over or under or around. In many cases it would have been easier than breaking the windows and risking damaging the hose on the broken glass
I also read that the water-filled hoses are very heavy and will dent a car roof, so it's less damaging to break the window.
Load More Replies...
If the hydrants were installed one quarter turn to either side, the firemen could hook up the hose around any car. I wonder what the reason is that they have to be installed so that the water access hole is pointing directly at what would have been a parking spot.
I used the "they will go through your car! Not over or under it!" When my lil cousin started driving and thought 2 min in front of a hydrant was no big deal. She never parked in front of one again and just sent me pics from this article!! T- " Hey Cuzzo, glad you scolded me early lol"
Maybe not every time but if I was a firefighter heading to a fire, I would love doing this once or twice a year to these morons. It has to slow things down, right? Better that no car is there.
parking in front a fire hydrogen is wrong but i would think it would be much faster to through it over the hood of the car and continue on. I get the reason but it still seems to be unnecessary damage. Ticket them and make them pay a nice fine to teach them a lesson to not jeopardize their attempt to rescue people/property. But some of these are over kill.
I'm not saying these people don't deserve it. They do. But why does it have to go through the car and not like on top of it?
Alright. SO I read this story on Quora.com so im not so sure how true this is. But somebody said that they used to be a construction worker and one day, the building across the street from his/her construction site caught fire. When the fire department arrived, they found somebody had parked infront of the hydrant. So, the fire men called over the construction teams bulldozer and with permission from the police, bulldozed the car out of the way.
Easy... It takes too long. We need to be in action in a matter of minutes.
Load More Replies... I have a technical question. Why are typical US hydrants equipped with a permanent standpipe? Hydrants over here are simply covers in the pavement, and firefighters bring their standpipe with them. This seems to be much more flexible, and standpipes to not take away space when not in use...
How do they locate them under the snow? Ohio here and it’s either 90 degrees or 2 feet of snow.
Load More Replies... go ahead, call your insurance to make a claim against this, rates go up up up
Sadly that is not true. I say sadly because these people definitely deserve to have their rates raised. But in most cases, glass is covered under insurance and won't raise your rates. I work in insurance.
Load More Replies... Isn't faster to go around the car with the hose than to brake 2 car windows and struggle to pass the hose through them?
To fight a fire on the ground, a fire hose needs about 150 pounds pet square inch of water pressure. To reach the 30th floor of a building the pressure needs to be at least 300 psi to offset the effects if elevation. If anything, the car offers extra stability for the hose.
Load More Replies... Aw don't worry...the tax payers will fix it. Hmm.
Load More Replies... I mean, it sucks if you really truly didn't know a hydrant was there...but you really need to pay more attention when you are driving a freakin vehicle!!
The hydrant is on the driver's side. Unless you exited your car through the passenger door, the hydrant was right in front of you.
Load More Replies... Idiots! Got what they deserve for slowing down firefighters doing their jobs.
you would think they could put a couple of bollards fairly close to the side of the road - say 4 ft each side of the hydrant so idiots would be physically unable to park in front of it
Load More Replies... I think its necessary. I had the question regarding the hose and whether it could go under (have you tried crawling under a vehicle), over or around but I looked at the attachment to secure the hose and it obviously needs room. The hose does have insane water pressure but if they get bent against the cars would it not mess with pressure?! I'm going to go to my local firehall, (yay), and ask them about what they do when a car is in front of a hydrant. I'm in Vancouver, BC and maybe they do it differently.
On some pictures, it looks like there would have been a possibility to route the pipe round the car...teaching them a lesson?
I saw a guy at one of these with his elbow and hand on fire. The police arrested him for having a firearm.
Wow one of the cars was marked "mayor"....I guess they felt entitled to put their constituents in danger...
They should break their windows even when it is not absolutely necessary!
A good way to make understanding the moron that the reserved parking for firefighter is NOT a luxury parking for them.......maybe drastic, and for sure they will never do it a second time.
A real life reenactment of a scene from the movie Backdraft. When the fire fighter (Scott Glenn) did the honors, everyone in the theater clapped and cheered. I think fire fighters should stove in the wind shield, too, just for stuff and grins. "Oooops, missed. My bad."
I didn't have to ask, just googled my city's bylaws on it. Fire crews need to be able to see the hydrant from the street, they need 3 meters from the hydrant to work, they don't work with city bylaws so they can't tow said car, they don't intentionally want to ruin your car but they have one (very important) job to do, they say three meters because everything around the hose gets drenched (imagine winter conditions), and you will be blocked in for as long as they are there. Phew! Thanks Vancouver bylaws.
So...we don't have fire hydrants in the UK. I guess we just have the little metal covers in the pavement, have to admit I've never seen a fire engine in action so I don't know. But it's not illegal to park next to one of these. What happens then?
They are obviously doing it to prove a point, if you look at the photos it would take more time to smash out the windows then snake the hose through the car window and out the the other side, instead of just tossing the hose over the roof, which just seems vindictive, check out the photo of the minivan, they actually pass it through the window and then make a 180 and the hose flows back in the opposite direction .....still you shouldn't park in front of a hydrant and no sympathy for the drivers in these cases.
I agree people shouldn't block hydrants. That being said, in nearly every one of the photos provided, there was no actual need to break the windows and run the hose through the interior of the vehicle. In some of the photos, this was actually making a more complicated and unnecessary route for the hose than if they had simply gone over the top of the car's roof, trunk or hood, underneath, or around the front or back. I understand they caused this damage to make a point. But let's learn to look at what we see in photos objectively!
Im wondering if at least one person argued with the firemen because "you toke out my windows for a stupid fire!"
Yes people should not park there, but many of these are wanton vandalism. The hoses could have gone over or under or around. In many cases it would have been easier than breaking the windows and risking damaging the hose on the broken glass
I also read that the water-filled hoses are very heavy and will dent a car roof, so it's less damaging to break the window.
Load More Replies... If the hydrants were installed one quarter turn to either side, the firemen could hook up the hose around any car. I wonder what the reason is that they have to be installed so that the water access hole is pointing directly at what would have been a parking spot.
I used the "they will go through your car! Not over or under it!" When my lil cousin started driving and thought 2 min in front of a hydrant was no big deal. She never parked in front of one again and just sent me pics from this article!! T- " Hey Cuzzo, glad you scolded me early lol"
Maybe not every time but if I was a firefighter heading to a fire, I would love doing this once or twice a year to these morons. It has to slow things down, right? Better that no car is there.
parking in front a fire hydrogen is wrong but i would think it would be much faster to through it over the hood of the car and continue on. I get the reason but it still seems to be unnecessary damage. Ticket them and make them pay a nice fine to teach them a lesson to not jeopardize their attempt to rescue people/property. But some of these are over kill.
I'm not saying these people don't deserve it. They do. But why does it have to go through the car and not like on top of it?
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