The town has added another dry hydrant at 795 West Rd. at the West Road Bridge to its inventory, bringing our total to 44 dry hydrants. Adequate and readily available water supply is a critical function of firefighting. Only about 30 percent of New Canaan is protected by municipal water supply (traditional fire hydrants). The remainder of town relies on cisterns and dry hydrants like this one on West Road.
A dry hydrant is a pipe that is installed underground, into a pond or other body of water, like a large straw, that fire pumper trucks can hook up to and draft or “suck” water for firefighting purposes. Having a dry hydrant makes accessing the water easier and, most critically, quicker especially in the winter time when ponds and rivers may be frozen and access difficult.
There are some dry hydrants and cisterns (buried tanks) spotted throughout our town however there are still many areas with no readily available water source. The key phrase is “readily available”. There are many ponds, streams and swimming pools in New Canaan however getting a fire truck close enough to effectively use them is usually difficult, time consuming and ineffective when every second counts.
Options are however available to New Canaan residents: One option is to install a fire department connection into your swimming pool when it is built. This option is not always feasible due to equipment limitations or differences in elevations. When everything works out this is a very attractive possibility.
A second option is to install a dry hydrant into a pond or stream (one that flows year round). Again this has limitations since a fire truck need to be able to pull up next to the hydrant in all types of weather so “off roading” to gain access is out of the question.
Another option is to add a cistern to your property. A large underground tank, minimally 10,000 gallons with the same piping as other dry hydrants to access the water.
Whatever the solution, having a nearby water source is critical to effective firefighting operations. The dry hydrant can save property owners significantly on their homeowners insurance which can help pay for the hydrant.
Residents interested in discussing water supply for their neighborhoods should please contact the New Canaan Fire Marshal’s Office at 203-594-3030.