Water on the Way: Two Texts About Fire Hydrants

Text 1: How a Fire Hydrant Works

1Walk down almost any city street, and you will probably pass a fire hydrant. This short metal post may not look like much, but it is an important tool for keeping a town safe. A hydrant gives firefighters a quick way to get large amounts of water.

2Under the street runs a large pipe called a water main. It carries water to homes and businesses. Each hydrant is joined to a water main by a smaller pipe. When firefighters arrive at a fire, they attach a hose to one of the hydrant's outlets. Then they turn the nut on top of the hydrant with a special wrench. This opens a valve, and water rushes into the hose.

3In places with cold winters, the valve sits deep underground, below the soil that freezes. When the hydrant is closed, the water stays down below, so the metal post above it stays empty and cannot freeze and crack. In warmer places, many hydrants hold water all the way up to the top.

4Firefighters need to reach a hydrant fast. That is why drivers are not allowed to park right next to one, and why neighbors are asked to clear snow away from hydrants after a storm.

Text 2: Fireplugs Long Ago

1Hundreds of years ago, towns had no fire hydrants. When a building caught fire, people formed a long line called a bucket brigade. They passed buckets of water from hand to hand, from a well or a river to the fire. It was slow, hard work.

2Later, some cities laid water pipes under their streets. Many of the first pipes were made from logs with holes bored through the middle. When a fire broke out, firefighters dug down to the wooden pipe and drilled a hole in it. Water bubbled up into the hole they had dug, and they pumped it out to fight the fire. Afterward, they pounded a wooden plug into the hole. The next time there was a fire nearby, they could find the plug and pull it out instead of drilling a new hole.

3That is how hydrants came to be called fireplugs, a name some people use today. In the 1800s, as cities changed to metal pipes, inventors designed hydrants that stood above the ground. Firefighters no longer had to dig at all.