The leaves will be turning red soon, but Homewood fire hydrants are way ahead of them. The new color for hydrants has caught the eyes of some residents. Public Works Director John Schaefer said the hydrants have been yellow for a long time, at least several decades.
Riegel Road just south of
Ridge Road was painted
red in recent weeks as
the village converts to a
new color scheme. (Photos
by Eric Crump/H-F
Chronicle)
The leaves will be turning red soon, but Homewood fire hydrants are way ahead of them.
The new color for hydrants has caught the eyes of some residents. Public Works Director John Schaefer said the hydrants have been yellow for a long time, at least several decades.
He decided to make the switch for both maintenance and aesthetic reasons and consulted with Fire Chief Bob Grabowski and Village Manager Jim Marino to make sure there wouldn’t be problems with the color switch.
block of Linden Road show
the yellow color that is
being replaced.
Yellow shows rust quickly, he said. Red doesn’t. The hope is that red hydrants might not have to be repainted quite as often and should look nicer longer, he said.
Hydrant repainting is a regular task. The village has more than 1,200 hydrants, and a portion of them get painted each year during warm months.
Schaefer said the department depends on summer help for the project.
Most hydrants along main streets have been painted this summer, and the project will continue into residential areas next.
