Posted Friday, December 28, 2012 --- 11:07 a.m.

Press Release from the Madison Fire Department:

More snow is on the way, but many of the City's fire hydrants are still buried from last week's storm.

The City of Madison Fire Department is asking residents and businesses to help in clearing the snow and ice from around fire hydrants adjacent to their property. It's important to have a minimum of three feet around the hydrant to give the fire department room to work and to get quick access in case of a fire.

If a hydrant is lost or buried in snow, firefighters can lose valuable time trying to locate it when they first arrive at a fire.

The City has more than 8,000 hydrants. A map of hydrant locations is at this link: http://www.cityofmadison.com/engineering/documents/CityOfMadison_FireHydrants.pdf.

Digging out the hydrant is not only the neighborly thing to do, but it is crucial in an emergency for the firefighters to be able to quickly hook up their hoses. Please keep in mind your neighbors who may not be able to dig hydrants out near their own homes. Neighborhood associations may want to consider adopting the area fire hydrants to shovel them out.

If you see a damaged hydrant or water flowing down the street, call the Water Utility's emergency dispatcher at 266-4661 to report the problem so that repairs can be made.