By JOHN E. WEARE, KAB
Fire hydrants blend into the landscape. Drivers may take notice to stay the proper distance away to avoid a ticket. Dogs often pause at every one their owner passes on a walk. A freshly painted fire hydrant may add a little pizzazz to a downtown curb though does it really make a difference in the advent of a fire call?
Alliance Troop 216 scout Ethan Schulze will tell you all about the meaning behind the paint scheme that was the focus of his Eagle Scout project. Ethan, his fellow scouts and other volunteers spent a series of weekends restoring fire hydrants to code by painting them so firefighters can tell what pressure they are, he said. “It was 25 years since they were painted.”
Recently departed Alliance City Manager Seth Sorensen brought the idea to Ethan. The Life scout had considered building a public gaga ball pit among his initial ideas, “but I thought this is the best one I could have ever done – it has an everlasting effect on the community.”
Ethan scheduled two work weekends during this past August then finished on Oct. 4. Scouts competes with other interests and activities as he juggled weekends to accommodate weather and high school football. The volunteer response, however, proved solid. Ethan said he had multiple people every weekend, about a dozen each time. The City of Alliance supplied the paint while Ethan and his family donated all the brushes, gloves and safety wear.
Ethan did not just choose a few fire hydrants with paint worn off to the metal, he approached the task methodically – going by streets within an addition. Initially he thought they would be hand brushing but ended up spray painting. He said he had a goal of 30 though they hit that mark on the first day. Overall, working on a cross grid then by house and street the crew repainted 187 fire hydrants.
The process began east of Box Butte Avenue and proceeded toward Flack Avenue. Ethan said they drove around a day or two beforehand for an up-to-date preview. He explained a man had already painted a number of hydrants with an idea to focus on parade routes and emergency snow routes. Ethan identified hydrants that had not had a facelift and coordinated closely with his volunteers throughout the project. He took and posted photos so one part of his crew could see what others had done. If a few guys were done early they could pack up and help other volunteers on their section. Drawing from a full pallet, the painting continued until the City ran out of supplies.
Ethan said the experience “was really positive”, adding he received some letters. People also took note of the work and asked about what he was doing. The best part was "obviously, seeing them getting done.” The greatest challenge was getting out and seeing what needed to be painted, Ethan explained. Also, considering the range of fire hydrants involved, Ethan took great care not to paint a cap the wrong color.
“I learned a bunch of leadership tactics,” Ethan said. “. . . People donated whatever they could for time.” Coordinating behind the scenes, he really wanted to go out and paint. Ethan explained he had that opportunity on what proved to be a super windy last day although everything went smoothly.