MT. WASHINGTON, Ky. (WDRB) -- If you drive around Mt. Washington, you might notice fire hydrants topped off with blue, green, orange or red paint.
There's a reason for that, officials said this week.
The Mt. Washington Fire Protection District said the colors let responding fire departments know how many gallons per minute that hydrant will flow. The color-coding also plays a role in a grading system, which, in conjunction with the Insurance Service Organization, affects what homeowners pay on insurance premiums.
Here is the grading system:
- Red: 0-499 gallons per minute
- Orange: 500-999 gallons per minute
- Green: 1,000-1,499 gallons per minute
- Light Blue: 1,500 gallons per minute
Fire officials said it will take a while to color-code every one of the 900-1,000 hydrants, and the project likely will not be finished until next year.
If you drive around Mt. Washington, you might notice fire hydrants topped off with blue, green or orange paint. Aug. 18, 2022. (WDRB Photo)
Mt. Washington Fire Chief Michael Dooley said he was waiting on the new water tower to be in service before doing the color-code system. He said painting the hydrants is done at no additional cost to taxpayers. Firefighters are adding the task to their daily duties.
Dooley asks that people who have hydrants in their yard clear a 3-foot circumference around the hydrant to make it accessible to firefighters. Also, he asks that once these new colors are painted on, people leave the hydrant as is.
"When they see the color codes on them, we hope that they leave our color code on there, because that's part of our grading," Dooley said. "We do a lot of mutual aid with Fern Creek, Shepherdsville, Spencer County, Zoneton ... (and) they can look at that hydrant and know, 'Oh, light blue, over 1,500 gallons per minute.'"
He said in areas with a red hydrant, for example, with less than 500 gallons per minute, firefighters will instantly know to call for more trucks and tankers to bring additional water.
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