Property Owners are Legally Responsible for the Hydrants on their Land,
photos courtesy of Fair Lawn Fire Department
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Fair Lawn NJ, with another winter storm looming on the horizon, the Fair Lawn Fire Department is issuing an urgent plea to all residents: Clear the hydrants now before the next layer of ice hits.
In a fire, every second is a heartbeat. While property owners are legally responsible for the hydrants on their land, a buried hydrant isn’t just a neighbor’s problem—it’s a neighborhood danger.
The “5-Minute” Rule That Could Save Your Life
When the Fair Lawn Fire Department arrives at a scene, their priority is getting water onto the flames immediately.
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The Reality: It takes between 5 to 7 minutes for firefighters to dig out a buried hydrant.
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The Risk: In a house fire, 5 minutes is the difference between a controllable incident and a total loss.
If your house is the one on fire, you and your family simply do not have those extra minutes to spare.
Why Your Help is Critical
Unlike big city departments, Fair Lawn relies on dedicated volunteers.
“Our members are working at their jobs during the day. We are not sitting at a firehouse waiting to shovel every hydrant in town,” the Department shared.
Because these brave men and women are rushing from their homes or offices to help you, they need the infrastructure ready to go the moment they hook up the hose.
How to Properly Clear a Hydrant
To ensure the fire department can work effectively, please follow the 3-Foot Rule:
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Clear 3 Feet in all directions around the hydrant.
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Clear a Path from the hydrant directly to the street so firefighters don’t have to climb over snowbanks.
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Check on Neighbors: If the homeowner near a hydrant is elderly or unable to shovel, stepping in to help protects the entire block.
Beat the Next Storm
Long-range weather guidance suggests more snow and ice are heading toward Bergen County this weekend. If you leave current snow around the hydrant, it will likely freeze into a solid block of ice, making it nearly impossible to clear during an emergency.
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Some of us feel that it’s not our responsibility, we have a paid fire department that is fully staffed with equipment and plow trucks. Some of us are elderly, or disabled they can’t do it. And we feel that we shouldn’t have to pay a contract to remove Snow around a fire hydrant that’s owned by the town and maintained by the town, the water department does the maintenance, not sure who paints it, what is next are we responsible for the trees that are planted by the town, the street signs on our property, when not responsible for the curbs, and some of us didn’t even want sidewalks, we were forced to put them inn, and now we’re responsible for cleaning snow and ice on sidewalks and if somebody slips I could be sued ridiculous. When is this gonna stop?
Typical entitled Ridgewood crying “Karen”. Welcome to New Jersey.
COMPLAINING ABOUT CLEARING THE SNOW ON SIDEWALKS, TOWN TREES, YOU DESERVE A FINE IF YOU DON’T COMPLY. SELFISH, LEARN TO BE A NICE NEIGHBOR!
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/tips/i-shoveled-snow-from-my-driveway-onto-the-road-for-the-plow-to-handle-instead-i-received-a-visit-from-the-police-and-a-500-fine-why/ss-AA1VJ7ys?ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&cvid=69849cc0051341559b412814e763fb5c&ei=55#image=1
ok, so don’t shovel it out…….
If access to the fire hydrant doesn’t matter to you and your neighbors you can take that risk.
Is everyone on your block elderly and disabled?
Not sure why it takes a LAW for people to do the obvious…. it’s for the common good. If you can’t do it then ask a neighbor for goodness sake. OR you can wait for the RFD to travel all around RW to shovel each and every fire hydrant out and pray that there are no fires and/or car accidents on your block in the meantime.
The town plows and packed in 3 ft of snow around the fire hydrant which freezes into a solid block of ice over night. That should never happen..if the town has such disregard for its residents they can pound sand and send someone from Village Hall to clear the hydrant
How about having the new village engineer/director come up with a snow removal crew to work after the storm at night and weekends and they can remove the snow around hydrants. The village has the money. I’m sure the fire department would love to bring in a crew to work all the time, right? That’s like years ago the police wouldn’t take the snow of their cars, remember that one I do.
Overtime, baby,