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Another reason not to park in front of a hydrant
By adamg on Sat, 08/27/2011 - 8:58pm
Firefighters sometimes have to improvise. Boston firefighters responding to a fire at Mt. Ida Road and Fox Street in Dorchester early this morning improvised right through the windows of a car they found parked in front of a hydrant.
Ed. note: A photo like this deserves credit. Did you take it? Let me know.
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Comments
Still seems a bit unnecessary
Still seems a bit unnecessary to have done what they did.
You mean parking in front of a hydrant?
I completely agree.
No, going through the car
No, going through the car when it would seem to take less time to have gone in front of the car, and also have the hose be on a straighter path to the fire truck.
also does the least damage
even trying to (quickly) tow the car with the truck would have done more damage, probably.
Wait for a tow truck???
Huh?? No time. Push it out of the way? Well, might damage the pump or a legally parked car. Jaffrey valve won't fit under the car. Your options are limited. Look at the bright side, he might have comprehensive insurance.
Or he might not. Oh, well. Nice pic, though.
huh?
Reading comprehension: try it.
not unnecessary
If that car was between your house and the hydrant you would not think it was unnecessary. Don't park in front of a hydrant for a reason....
Just because the car in front
Just because the car in front of the hydrant provided the firemen with an opportunity to break things doesn't mean it was necessary to break things.
Yes.
Yes, it is.
It's ILLEGAL to park in front of a hydrant. Not only it's Illegal, it's a immediate public safety issue.
End of Story. And Anon, stop doing it.
Lesson Learned
Especially being in a state of emergency.
What kind of douche does that?
They should have gone a step further and used the Firetruck to push it up on the curb out of the way, regardless of damage.
You're right. What would have
You're right. What would have been necessary is using the jaws of life to cut it into little pieces.
Don't even defend it. Definitely deserved it.
WIN
.
The reason that this is
The reason that this is necessary is that if the hose was to make a 90 degree right turn out of the hydrant, it would kink and restrict the flow of water. Changing the direction of a 4" hose like this one requires a fairly wide turn to prevent binding.
one thing I've always wondered...
...is why trucks don't carry a 90 degree elbow for exactly this sort of problem.
Bike Lane
Hey Brett, If the car were in a bike lane instead of in front of a hydrant, it would be okay then, right?
False choice fallacy
Why would it need to be in either place? If you can't leave your car somewhere legally, then don't leave it.
Unless of course
You are the mayor dedicating a bike lane...or a fire hydrant.
http://boston.mybikelane.com/
(scroll to third picture down)
no
no
Hose is kinked to go thru the
Hose is kinked to go thru the window.
Looks like it would have been easier and quicker to run it in front of car.
But that wouldn't have made such a sweet and emphatic statement.
Hope the dope sees this pic.
A case of life imitating art.
There was a scene in BackDraft where the firemen did the same thing.
Wonder if the BFD responders had to break out the car windows in this case though.
nah
Everyone is leaving their windows out there tonight. Right?
My windows are out there,
My windows are out there, last I checked.
Life imitates Internet
There was a photo circulating the Internet for a long time, of a BMW or similar that had this exact thing done to it. Karma a bitch.
yep, older than the intertubes
What A Schmuck!
Did they have to break the windows?
I can't believe anyone's defending this dope
This is why they tell you not to park in front of a hydrant. The driver didn't care, so the firemen certainly shouldn't when an emergency happens.
Look at that picture. Are
Look at that picture. Are you seriously telling me it doesn't look like they did more work breaking through the car than simply going around?
Let's all keep in mind also that these are the same firemen that routinely make the paper for drugs and other antics.
Ok dick, here's the
Ok dick, here's the explanation: if there's a car in front of the hydrant, assume that the quickest way to get water is to go through the car. That way, your guys don't get burned.
Let's all keep in mind that this comment is from a guy who never needed a firefighter...yet, routinely.
They are?
Here I thought that was one or two?
Somebody mad because they might get burned for their massholish behavior?
Ignorace, or agenda?
This is like asking "Why didn't the cop shoot the gun out of his hand?" It's ludicrous because you, the untrained "observer", have no idea what it is you are suggesting. As I explained above, this tactic reduces kinking of the hose and the subsequent loss of water pressure. So yes, it would probably have been easier to run the hose in front of the car, but it would have been less effective and possibly dangerous. Secondly, newspaper stories have no bearing on this topic. Which group of couragous fireman bashers do you belong to, anonymous?
I understand the need to
I understand the need to reduce kinking. However the photo, to this admittedly untrained observer, suggests that running the hose through the car like they did created a situation more prone to kinking than running the hose in front of the car. It appears they went out of their way to "send a message" as someone else put it.
No agenda here except that firemen should be drug tested often. One strike and out.
no bagel for you
I wholeheartedly agree that there are firefighters who game the system and should be taught a lesson. But "one strike and out" is a stupid idea. Surely you realize that a poppy seed bagel generally leads to a single failed drug test.
If they are worried about
If they are worried about failing a drug test and getting fired all because of a poppy seed bagel then maybe they should avoid poppy seed bagels. But let's be serious, they are not worried about false positives.
it definitely took much more
it definitely took much more time to pop the windows, clear out the glass to protect the hose, feed the hose in through the window, have someone fish it through on the other side, then make the awkward tight connection....... the hose isn't even coming off the truck within the frame of the shot! It is traveling a much farther distance, it could hypotenuse straight from the truck to the hydrant.
I don't give a flip about the dude's windows, but if my house is on fire i don't want the firemen wasting seconds to mimic some "statement" they saw on the email. Hook up the g.d. hose and put out the fire, the fastest way possible! This is what $200 tickets and tow trucks are for. Granted it won't do anything until after the situation, but this photos tells me these firefighters' minds were on making a statement to the car owner, and NOT putting out the fire as quickly as possible.
Massholes all around
Um
I'm going to trust that firefighters know which parts of the hose need to be at what angles for the hose to work correctly.
my alternative is not only
my alternative is not only faster it has less angles and all angles are less extreme
Why don't they make the paper for THIS?
http://gizmodo.com/5833871/burning-car-explodes-ri...
You go live in a world without firefighters... especially today with downed trees and broken gas lines...
Maybe the driver of that car parked in front of that hydrant
Hopefully, the driver of that car parked right in front of a hydrant will learn his/her lesson from this stupid event, and not pull such a stupid stunt again. One can only hope.
I can . . .
. . . to quote the Avett Brothers- "Ain't it like most people, I'm no different, we like to talk about things we don't know about."
"See- I read in the papers that fire fighters . . ."
Bzzt- shut it. Read the papers did you? Beat it.
Looks unnecessary from an
Looks unnecessary from an access point of view.
That's the beauty of it.
No way anyone should block hydrants
But especially not in congested neighborhood like that.
Lots of triple deckers.
I'd be happy to give firefighters ticketing powers.
A couple could drive around checking their area once a shift.
Just drive to a call if needed.
Revenue for the city and cut down on the douchebaggery.
don't police parking&traffic already do that?
.
No, not really, not in the
No, not really, not in the neighborhoods.
BPD traffic enforcement is meager and I seriously doubt an average cop would even notice a car parked at a hydrant, never mind get out of the cruiser to ticket.
As for BTD, I've seen them deployed around certain commercial districts in the 'hoods for a day or two but not active enforement.
Honestly, if a neighbor didn't report it you could probably park in front of a hydrant all you wanted in the residential sections.
Yeah
They don't enforce in neighborhoods that aren't heavily commercial or heavily student.
In my neighborhood, people regularly park in front of the hydrants, in the "no parking 8am-3pm" area, across ramps, in HP placard spaces, across my driveway so I can't get out. I've never seen a ticket in my neighborhood except for street sweeping. When I call to get them to tow people who are across my driveway so I can't get out, they don't ever come.
Did we learn anything today?
There might be some level of a "FY" message being delivered to the car-owner here. It is fully deserved!
There's a scene in the Ron
There's a scene in the Ron Howard film Backdraft where the firefighters pull up to a fire and there's a shiny new sports car parked in from the hydrant and the one firefighter says "God, I love my job" and smashes out the windows to put the firehose through
Both
It was both unnecessary and well-deserved. Bravo, BFD!
I would never even..
consider second guessing guys the actions of guys who run into burning buildings for a god damn living. Anyone who thinks they're assholes for breaking some moron's windows obviously have the safest jobs on the planet.
Couldn't agree with you more!
Couldn't agree with you more!
Seriously
.
I agree. But the ones
I agree. But the ones complaining are the ones who havent been directly affected by firemen yet.
not only do they break the cars windows
the car becomes the fire departments garbage can. cigarette butts, coffee cups etc.
these guys get seriously pissed off about these jerks, as they should.
couldnt they just work around it? is this really necessary? wahh! wahh! wahh!
From my 10 year old son: "So,
From my 10 year old son:
"So, if you park in front of a fire hydrant, just leave your windows open"
Sounds like a charming
Sounds like a charming lad.
Firefighters would probably let the hose drain in your car or tip it over and out of the way, and rightly so.
Go to Google streetview and look at that intersection.
dozens of people could be displaced by a fire there.
I guess it didn't occur to
I guess it didn't occur to anybody that the car might belong to someone who lives in the burning house.
?
How does that make a difference? They would still be a fool who parked in front of a fire hydrant.
All the more reason to smash
All the more reason to smash the windows. Trade-off? LOL.
Remember this is a photo not a witness
Imagine for a minute that there is a car missing from this photo.
I say the photo is taken after a car was moved away that was sitting in front of the ford. Then all of a sudden this makes perfect sense.
When they tow this thing I hope they crushed it into a small cube.
Calling bullshit
Firefighter here, sorry, but what they did here was totally unnecessary. The whole reason for busting a car's windows is to allow for the hose to straighten properly, thus maximizing water flow.
Given the position of the car and hydrant, the best move would have been to send the hose underneath it (straightest path possible). As is they busted the windows just to make a point, but in the process immediately introduced a sharp curve in the hose to double back and make it through the windows, the damn hose is visibly kinked for crying out loud.
Maybe this happens frequently in Boston so they felt the need to make a point, but going through the windows in this case did more harm than good, and not just to the car.