SALISBURY, Md.- When duty calls, Salisbury firefighter Doug Parker has a hard time spotting the fire hydrants hidden behind cars and other objects, he says the task becomes even harder when the sun sets.
"At night it's very difficult, during the day its a little bit better, less cars parked on the street," he said.
The fire department has been placing hydrant markers on the ground that hope to reduce the time it normally takes to find them.
"They make a huge difference. Many times it's a matter or laying out 500 feet of hose versus only having to lay out 100 feet because you can't see the hydrant that's down the street" said Parker.
And with more than 1,400 hydrants in the city alone, the Salisbury Fire Department devised a tool that insures it marks every single one.
"Each work group in the department has a map, they've been assigned certain areas in the city, so everyday that that work group works they go out and at some point during the day they start placing the markers in the street," said Chris O'Barsky, assistant chief of the Salisbury Fire Department.
The Salisbury Fire department hopes to have all 2,000 of the blue fire hydrant markers in place by the end of August.
As for residents being wary of the possible effects of the markers on their car wheels, Alfred Baynard says its the least of his worries.
"All these potholes and divots on the roads, it's the least of our worries, a marker fire hydrant," he said.
The fire department had previously tested these markers by placing them in areas with high traffic and even plowing during the winter, they said the markers did fairly well.
