We depend on the London Fire Department to rapidly suppress and extinguish fires to prevent the loss of life, and/or the destruction of property and the environment. In turn, the London Fire Department depends upon a network of more than 9,000 fire hydrants which form an important part of the London Water System.
London’s Water Operations Division performs regular maintenance and repairs to ensure that London’s hydrants are ready to respond when disaster strikes. When you pay your monthly water bill, you are also paying to ensure the readiness of London’s fire hydrants through the monthly Fire Protection Charge.
If you have a fire hydrant in front of your property, you can do your part to maintain its readiness by making certain that shrubs or bushes do not obscure the view of the hydrant.
Beginning in the fall of 2014, London’s fire hydrants were updated to include a reflective marker around the hydrant port. These markers are either blue, green, orange or red. Why the different colours? Because not all hydrants are the same. The amount of water that will flow from a hydrant depends upon its location and the type of water main that the hydrant is connected to. The four colours of the reflective markers correspond to four flow categories that have been established for fire hydrants.
The highly visible reflective markers instantly provide the London Fire Department with important information regarding the flow capacity of each hydrant in the City.