Rumors of a major snow storm hitting the south-eastern PA this week are making headlines. Please remember to remove snow from around your neighborhood fire hydrants.

Make the fire hydrants visible: ensure that your hydrants can be seen easily while driving through your neighborhood. High visibility colors and reflecting items will help first responders locate hydrants faster.

Make the fire hydrants accessible: ensure the fire hydrant can be easily accessed from the road. Remove all snow and debris from around your hydrant within at least a 3 foot radius. The bigger the area, the better.

House fires today burn almost twice as fast as they did 10 years ago and will double in size every 1-2 minutes (on average). Every second counts for firefighters to get water on the fire. A small fire can become a raging inferno if first responders have to clear snow from around the fire hydrant.