By Hays Fire Department

During the next several weeks, Hays firefighters are conducting the regular inspection of fire hydrants.

There are 978 public and private fire hydrants throughout the city.

Firefighters check each fire hydrant for damage, make sure that the operating mechanism, valve and automatic drain work properly and lubricate the hose connections and moving parts.

Because of the city of Hays Water Warning, firefighters are not flushing water mains or measuring the gallons per minute available from each fire hydrant.

Fire hydrants are repainted on a five year schedule. As part of this work, firefighters will be repainting 20% of the fire hydrants. Fire hydrants are color coded to indicate their water output for firefighting.

For more information, contact Fire Chief Gary Brown at 785.628.7330.