It's a part of snow shoveling that some people forget: the fire hydrant.
"Especially because hydrants are so close to the road, what happens when the snowplows come through, a lot of the times it creates a snowbank, which can mostly cover the fire hydrants," said Assistant Public Education Coordinator Matthew Cobb of the Fairview Fire District. "They always say a fire doubles in size every minute, and it could potentially take us over two minutes just to shovel out the hydrant. Then we still have to be able to connect to the hydrant, to get the water, and every minute counts when there's a fire involved."
But the Fairview Fire District in Poughkeepsie is hoping to motivate residents with free pizza. Here's how you can participate in Fairview Fire District's social media contest:
- Take a picture with your cleared-out hydrant
- Post it on any social media platform using the hashtag #plugsforpies
- Tag @FairviewFireDistrict (Instagram link) (Twitter link)
You'll be entered into a drawing to win two free pizza pies donated by Mike & Joe's Brick Oven Pizza.
Cobb told us the best way to shovel out your hydrant.
"Just three feet on each side of the hydrant and in a circle if you can, so we have access to all four sides of it and then a path leading up to that circle so we can get through the snow in a timely manner," Cobb said.
Cobb says this simple task could save a life.
"It does add time to your snow shoveling and no one likes shoveling snow but ultimately if your house is on fire, those minutes it would take us to shovel it out, are minutes we could be saving your house or your family's house," Cobb said.
The #plugsforpies contest will begin 24 hours after the next snowstorm where there is an accumulation of at least six inches of snow.