Of Worcester’s 6,084 fire hydrants, 39 are currently out of service, according to a report submitted to the City Council by City Manager Eric Batista.
Fire Chief Martin Dyer said the hydrant system is designed with redundancy and that firefighters responding to a fire can see which hydrants are working and which are not. Known nonfunctioning hydrants are also marked with black paint on the bonnet.
“One of the ways it communicates that the city is on top of it is that if the bonnet is painted black, that we know that fire hydrant is out of service, it’s been documented appropriately in the water department’s work order system, and it is on the fire department’s response platform, so that all of our officers are aware of that,” Dyer said. “We have backup plans ready to go.”…