Residents asked to help to dig out fire hydrants across Waterloo region

Fire departments across Waterloo region are asking residents to help clear the snow around fire hydrants after a winter storm over the long weekend.

Franz Tschoegl, a public education officer with the Kitchener Fire Department, says if firefighters arrive at a scene and it's not immediately clear where the hydrant is located, time could be wasted trying to locate it and dig it out.

"Some hydrants don't have the flags that indicate where they actually are on their location," he said.

"The issue that we're finding is that when we go to emergency calls, when we have to access a fire hydrant and if it's buried, it can take several minutes to shovel around the hydrant so that we can access the water supply to fight a potential fire."

He says across the region, there are thousands of hydrants.

"Any bit of help that we can get from our community is greatly appreciated and it certainly expedites our ability to to fight a fire and access water supply," he said.

If residents know where a hydrant is located, but they are unable to dig it out themselves, they can also call their municipality and firefighters will be sent to the area to clear it, Tschoegl says. He noted this would be between calls and the firefighters would need to leave if there was a call for help.

Environment Canada meteorologist Gerald Cheng told CBC News there was a volunteer who reported the 30 cm around Roseville in North Dumfries over the course of the long weekend.

The City of Kitchener says since Feb. 12, the city has seen more than 70 cm of snow in some areas and called it an "unprecedented amount of snow that has accumulated."

Tschoegl says the best way to clear the snow is from the street. That way, firefighters can easily access it and attach a supply line to get water to the fire truck.