color of fire hydrants
Eddie G
did an interview on a local radio station, and when he was describing what
TSD is all about, IIRC he said something about the color of fire hydrants.
Am I remembering incorrectly, or is there some significance as to the color
of hydrants?
How about fire engines? Why are they red or sometimes yellow? Just so they
are easily seen?
Thanks,
Eddie G
--
M&E
Greg Goss
Red was chosen because it is easy to see. Oops. It turned out that
red is just about invisible at night. The puke yellow green colour
shows up well at night, though less so in the daytime.
--
"If the Gods Had Meant Us to Vote They Would Have Given Us Candidates" (Jim Hightower)
Lalbert1
<mick...@comcast.net> writes:
I have seen fire hydrants painted red or white in addition to the regular black
metal that most seem to be. Fire engines are yellow, or red, or any color that
the particular city wants to paint them. Being easily seen is important;
yellow was found to be better than red for fire engines, although it is hard
not to notice them in *any* color with all of the flashing lights on the fire
engines.
Les
Larry Palletti
Visibility is the key for fire trucks, but hydrants are painted
different colors to indicate the available water pressure. At least
that's how it works in East Point. Damned if I know why; hydrants are
usually hooked to pumper trucks that boost the pressure to whatever is
needed for a fire.
--
Larry Palletti East Point/Atlanta, Georgia
www.palletti.com www.booksonscreen.com
Opinionated, but lovable
Greg Goss
>I have seen fire hydrants painted red or white in addition to the regular black
>metal that most seem to be.
I've seen a couple of communities where there is a blue reflector in
the middle of the street wherever there is a hudrant on the curb.
Look for the blue flash, then look to the side.
Eric Boyd
"Greg Goss" <go...@mindlink.com> wrote in message
news:fgpa9u0hsi4qq5gch...@4ax.com...
> lalb...@aol.com (Lalbert1) wrote:
>
> >I have seen fire hydrants painted red or white in addition to the regular
black
> >metal that most seem to be.
>
> I've seen a couple of communities where there is a blue reflector in
> the middle of the street wherever there is a hudrant on the curb.
> Look for the blue flash, then look to the side.
Yep, we got this all over the Houston area. We also have similar reflectors
in red that mark the approaches to emergency entrances of hospitals. Makes
it easier to avoid wasting time in the wrong driveway. Not sure if this is
all hospitals. But Ben Taub and Hermann have them
-E
Alan Hamilton
wrote:
>"Eddie G" <mick...@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>>The first time I heard of The Straight Dope was in the mid 80's when Cecil
>>did an interview on a local radio station, and when he was describing what
>>TSD is all about, IIRC he said something about the color of fire hydrants.
>>Am I remembering incorrectly, or is there some significance as to the color
>>of hydrants?
>>
>>How about fire engines? Why are they red or sometimes yellow? Just so they
>>are easily seen?
>
>Red was chosen because it is easy to see. Oops. It turned out that
>red is just about invisible at night. The puke yellow green colour
>shows up well at night, though less so in the daytime.
Scottsdale, AZ used the yellow-green color for a while, but they're
switching back to fire engine red. Although the color is technically
more visible, it isn't associated with "fire engine" in the drivers'
minds.
--
/
/ * / Alan Hamilton
* * al...@arizonaroads.com
Andrew Gore
As I recall, all of the hydrants I've noticed in the Los
Angeles area are painted bright yellow. As far as emergency vehicles,
as I've understood, such vehicles have traditionally been dark red
literally since the horse-drawn carriage days. But then, starting in
the 70's, FDs across the country began adopting the lime-yellow scheme
as being more visible, especially in fog. (Red turned out to be the
worst color for fog visibility.) Interestingly, this issue came up in
my local newspaper just last week. Following a trend, the local FD
will be repainting their green machines brick-red again! Is this true
in your local area?
http://latimes.com/tcn/glendale/news/la-gn0022864mar14.story?coll=la%2Dtcn%2Dglendale%2Dnews
GrapeApe
>they
>are easily seen?
Red was used before they realized Yellow was more visible.
Also, red was generally an easier color to come by. In the days where the
firetruck might actually be a wooden wagon, wooden barns were painted red
because the 'paint' could be made with spoiled milk and rust.
This isn't to say that Cecil didn't have a more interesting reason for the
color of fire equipment. And there was some anecdote of some sort regarding the
painting of hydrants.
GrapeApe
>switching back to fire engine red. Although the color is technically
>more visible, it isn't associated with "fire engine" in the drivers'
>minds.
Are they hopping on the School Bus by mistake or something?
Larry Palletti
Visibility is the key for fire trucks, but hydrants are painted
Michael
In my town, South Bend....people/neighbors paint the hydants. They turn
them into little *people*. Faces, clothes---the whole thing.
--
Michael
I have three e-mail addresses :
mitc...@image-link.com mitc...@att.net mitc...@attbi.com
If one doesn't work, well...
Asterbark
(restored attribution)
>Alan Hamilton al...@arizonaroads.com wrote:
Where they are developing new roads, I've noticed that new signs that would
have been the old school-bus yellow "caution" color are being put up in
fluorescent tennis-ball (not "puke yellow green"as Greg said) color. I do not
mind the switch, but I do not like seeing the new signs in the new color
alongside the old signs of the old color. They just put up an enormous shopping
center across from Marist College, and along with the electronic variable speed
limit sign, I think there are too many signs in two clashing colors, that it's
almost too much to absorb, never mind college young 'uns running across about
five lanes of traffic, and the only sign missing is the one that says it's a
state law (as in Connecticut, I've recently noticed) to stop when there are
pedestrians waiting to use the crosswalk, which is very common when a main road
crosses a spread-out college campus. I've never seen pedestrians up there, but
the traffic at that section is very slow now. I do think it's because there are
too many signs to read within that distance, maybe a dozen, and they are all
cautionary, and while one is reading them, one also has to save an eye out for
Froggers, and not to rear-end people stopping at the new light. I don't think
this problem could be solved by making all the signs one standard color, but
they do hurt my eyes and draw them to both sides of a road instead of the
center. There are no campus buildings on the side with the new shopping center,
so I think with the added traffic light, if students need to cross, they can
wait up there and they can eliminate some of the signs. Some places don't have
enough signs! Anyway, I guess my point is, fire engines should be red if the
firemen want them to be, not because yellow is confusing, but red has a
different meaning in traffic than yellow-orange or fluorescent yellow-green
does.
Fire truck red means stop, emergency, get out of the way. School bus yellow
means drive with extra care and caution.
--
"Sailin' 'round the world in a dirty gondola
Oh, to be back in the land of Coca-Cola!"
Aster
danny burstein
>hydrant in the winter? (or does it?) I'm thinking it probably has
>something to do with the water pressure, but I'd like to know for
>sure...
Most fire hydrants are actually "dry". The valve assembly at the top turns
a threaded rod which extends down through the *empty* (except air) pipe
until it reaches a cap in the underground supply line.
WHen you rotate that knob the cap moves down into that pipe, lettign water
flow into the riser and then into the hydrant.
So.. the water is below the frost line and deosn't freeze.
(At least in theory... Every so often there will be an extended cold wave
and some will freeze even that low. Also, if there's a bit of a leak in
the pipe, then the hydrant will have been filled with water which will, of
course freeze and break the hydrant).
Incidentally, this is why the traditional Hollywood scenes where cars hit
hydrants and you get a gusher are usually inaccurate. The underground cap
is held in place by the water pressure, so losing the hydrant overhead
generally doesn't do anything except break the tie rod.
(This is NOT always the case. Some hydrants in warm weather areas are,
indeed, "wet". But it's pretty rare. Also, of course, knocking the hydrant
over may twist the tod and cap a bit, but the water will tend to be a
gurgle rather than a gusher.
--
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dan...@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]
John Hatpin
[...]
>Totally unrelated to colour, but why doesn't water freeze in the
>hydrant in the winter? (or does it?) I'm thinking it probably has
>something to do with the water pressure, but I'd like to know for
>sure...
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mhydrant.html
--
John "sorry about that" Hatpin
"I have been tempted to do it here, but was afraid some might consider
it rude" - Lesmond
ra...@westnet.poe.com
> Totally unrelated to colour, but why doesn't water freeze in the
> hydrant in the winter? (or does it?) I'm thinking it probably has
> something to do with the water pressure, but I'd like to know for
> sure...
Becuase ther's no water in the fire hydrant. The valve is below ground.
John
--
Remove the dead poet to e-mail, tho CC'd posts are unwelcome.
Ask me about joining the NRA.
Eric Boyd
"Michael" <mitc...@image-link.com> wrote in message
news:3C95FD33...@image-link.com...
> In my town, South Bend....people/neighbors paint the hydants. They turn
> them into little *people*. Faces, clothes---the whole thing.
>
I have not seen this done since 1976 when hydrants were painted like little
Continental Army soldiers. Things were really out of hand in '76.
I think that repainting hydrants was a crime inside the city limits and is a
crime throughout Harris Co. today.
-E
Russell Stewart
mick...@comcast.net says...
>
> How about fire engines? Why are they red or sometimes yellow? Just so they
> are easily seen?
Red, of course, is a color which stimulates hunger and sexual
arousal in men. This has turned out to be useful, as the firemen
are more motivated to get their job done quickly and efficiently
so they can go home, have a hot meal, and jump in the sack with
their wives.
--
Russell Stewart | E-Mail: check my web page
UNM Physics Department | WWW: http://www.swcp.com/~diamond
alt.atheism #343
"If knowledge is dangerous, the solution cannot
be ignorance. The solution has to be wisdom."
--Isaac Asimov
Michael
Thats when they started it around here.
RM Mentock
> http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mhydrant.html
>
> --
> John "sorry about that" Hatpin
> "I have been tempted to do it here, but was afraid some might consider
> it rude" - Lesmond
Yeah, rude. You're supposed to say OTB-IF:, followed by the url
and *then* a snide remark
Just the way things are done
--
RM Mentock
Ikeya-Zhang is coming
Greg Goss
>Where they are developing new roads, I've noticed that new signs that would
>have been the old school-bus yellow "caution" color are being put up in
>fluorescent tennis-ball (not "puke yellow green"as Greg said) color.
They reserved the colour in the fifties, but didn't have a stable
paint for it. A couple of years ago, they reserved this colour for
"pedestrian" oriented signs.
Perry Farmer
-> Totally unrelated to colour, but why doesn't water freeze in the
-> hydrant in the winter? (or does it?) I'm thinking it probably has
-> something to do with the water pressure, but I'd like to know for
-> sure...
The hydrant is like the end of the faucet. Depending on area the hydrant
that you see is attached to many feet of vertical pipe below ground that
you don't see. The rod you connect the wrench to at the top extends to
the bottom of this pipe to the valve that pressurizes the hydrant. The
reason it doesn't freeze however is not just because of the location of
the valve, but due to the fact that the hydrant drains itself when the
valve is shut. Otherwise any leakby of this valve could pressurize the
hydrant.
One item to consider if you ever use one, is to open the caps where the
hoses attach and then flush the hydrant for a short period before
attaching the hose. In little use hydrants, or hydrants that use dirty
waste water, sludge will be deposited in the lines and this sludge can
plug up the nozzle at the end of the hose when you use it.
Perry
N Jill Marsh
<mitc...@image-link.com>wrote:
>In my town, South Bend....people/neighbors paint the hydants. They turn
>them into little *people*. Faces, clothes---the whole thing.
There is a small town near me that does the same thing. More puppy
dogs and pussy cats than peeps, though.
nj"and Elvis lives there"m
"He then went away, and Miss Bingley was left to all
the satisfaction of having forced him to say what
gave no one any pain but herself."
Chris
<njm...@storm.ca> said:
>On Mon, 18 Mar 2002 09:44:03 -0500, Michael
><mitc...@image-link.com>wrote:
>
>>In my town, South Bend....people/neighbors paint the hydants. They turn
>>them into little *people*. Faces, clothes---the whole thing.
>
>There is a small town near me that does the same thing. More puppy
>dogs and pussy cats than peeps, though.
Small town near here, there's a fire hydrant (possibly not working) right in
front of the fire station. It's painted as a dalmation, including flaps cut as
'ears' of some black substance (old tire-mudflaps, maybe?). Too cutesy for
words.
Ick.
--
You can't have a light, without a
dark, to stick it in. -- Arlo Guthrie
Dana Carpender
Chris wrote:
>
> Hey, remember back on Mon, 25 Mar 2002 17:05:25 -0500, when N Jill Marsh
> <njm...@storm.ca> said:
>
> >On Mon, 18 Mar 2002 09:44:03 -0500, Michael
> ><mitc...@image-link.com>wrote:
> >
> >>In my town, South Bend....people/neighbors paint the hydants. They turn
> >>them into little *people*. Faces, clothes---the whole thing.
> >
> >There is a small town near me that does the same thing. More puppy
> >dogs and pussy cats than peeps, though.
>
> Small town near here, there's a fire hydrant (possibly not working) right in
> front of the fire station. It's painted as a dalmation, including flaps cut as
> 'ears' of some black substance (old tire-mudflaps, maybe?). Too cutesy for
> words.
>
> Ick.
>
>
This sort of thing was big in the '70s. In particular, back around the
Bicentennial (aka the Previous Stars and Stripes Hysteria), lots of
hydrants were gettting painted as Uncle Sam, soldiers, stuff like that.
Heard about a church that painted the two in front as a nun and a monk.
Somebody apparently hung a sign on the one painted like a monk saying
"Friar Hydrant."
--
Dana W. Carpender
Author, How I Gave Up My Low Fat Diet -- And Lost Forty Pounds!
http://www.holdthetoast.com
Check out our FREE Low Carb Ezine!
Bob Moissonnier
> On Mon, 18 Mar 2002 09:44:03 -0500, Michael
> <mitc...@image-link.com>wrote:
>
> >In my town, South Bend....people/neighbors paint the hydants. They turn
> >them into little *people*. Faces, clothes---the whole thing.
>
> There is a small town near me that does the same thing. More puppy
> dogs and pussy cats than peeps, though.
At least you didn't have to live through the RI horror of the Mr.
Potato Head invasion.
Chris
(Bob Moissonnier) said:
Rhode Island??
Huh? What's a Rhode Island Horror?
I've heard of a Rhode Island Red, but I don't think that's related.
Bob Moissonnier
> Hey, remember back on 28 Mar 2002 23:34:08 -0800, when bob...@earthlink.net
> (Bob Moissonnier) said:
>
> >N Jill Marsh <njm...@storm.ca> wrote in message news:<jn6v9ukou98frb8d4...@4ax.com>...
> >> On Mon, 18 Mar 2002 09:44:03 -0500, Michael
> >> <mitc...@image-link.com>wrote:
> >>
> >> >In my town, South Bend....people/neighbors paint the hydants. They turn
> >> >them into little *people*. Faces, clothes---the whole thing.
> >>
> >> There is a small town near me that does the same thing. More puppy
> >> dogs and pussy cats than peeps, though.
> >
> >
> >At least you didn't have to live through the RI horror of the Mr.
> >Potato Head invasion.
>
> Rhode Island??
> Huh? What's a Rhode Island Horror?
I'd say Buddy Cianci (who is slated to be the subject of a major
motion picture soon, and may be played by Robert De Niro), but despite
his many appalling qualities I kinda like the guy. I dunno, maybe
Arlene "Atilla the Nun" Violet?
> I've heard of a Rhode Island Red, but I don't think that's related.
A few years back, some People in Power (in concert with Pawtucket's
Hasbro, of course) decided to litter the landscape with a bunch of
sculptural variations on Mr. Potato Head, all about seven feet tall.
It was not well received.
Lesmond
And they apparently were not content to keep the spud man at home:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/reports/arts/potatohead.shtml
__
Do it now, but don't get caught.
Bob Moissonnier
> >A few years back, some People in Power (in concert with Pawtucket's
> >Hasbro, of course) decided to litter the landscape with a bunch of
> >sculptural variations on Mr. Potato Head, all about seven feet tall.
> >It was not well received.
>
> And they apparently were not content to keep the spud man at home:
>
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/reports/arts/potatohead.shtml
<Pee Wee Herman voice>
"Look out, Mr. Potato Head!"
I do take serious issue with the latter remark here, though:
"A goodwill gesture from the people of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, to
their twin town of Belper in Derbyshire seems to have backfired.
The American town is the home of Mr Potato Head, the children's toy
made famous by Disney's Toy Story,"
Mr. Potato Head was plenty famous before that flick, although I don't
doubt it expanded his fame.
Pope Bob
Church of Cowboy Curtis
John Hatpin
I think they were talking from a UK perspective.
--
John Hatpin
"I am very interested in the Universe. I am specialising in the
Universe and all that surrounds it." -- Peter Cook
Missbeckett
>>At least you didn't have to live through the RI horror of the Mr.
>>Potato Head invasion.
I am SO with you! They were EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!! The one painted all gold -
where was that - a bank? You couldn't go 500 feet in downtown Providence
without running into one.
-Beckett
Bob Moissonnier
> <attributions lost in a wash of symbols>
>
> >>At least you didn't have to live through the RI horror of the Mr.
> >>Potato Head invasion.
>
> I am SO with you! They were EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!! The one painted all gold -
> where was that - a bank?
Actually, that was about the only one I kinda liked -- it doubled as
an ATM.
> You couldn't go 500 feet in downtown Providence
> without running into one.
Truly mortifying, provoking much "when did we decide that this would
be our state image?" The last I heard about the Mr. P sent to
Pawtucket's "sister city" in Old Blighty was that a bunch of kids had
vandalized it, not that this is such unusual behavior from kids, but
... well, it obviously wasn't any Statue of Liberty.