BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — Broken Arrow Fire Department is improving safety and their response times with something little but very visible.
Driving around BA, you might notice blue reflectors on curbs. If you look further back from the curb, you will notice a fire hydrant.
That is what the blue reflectors are for — to help firefighters locate a hydrant in the dark.
The idea came from an anonymous suggestion box in the department.
"When one of our firefighters saw it in another town and brought it to our attention, we thought this is a fairly low-cost improvement for identifying fire hydrant locations very quickly," said Broken Arrow Fire Chief Jeremy Moore.
That low cost is about $5.75 per reflector, and it's being paid for through ordinary sales tax funding.
However, you might think, why not just paint the hydrant with reflective paint?
"Sometimes hydrants are located a significant distance off the streets, but when we see that blue reflector on the curb at night, we know there is a hydrant right in that location," Chief Moore said. "It's a little easier to see than actually finding the hydrant that sometimes can get grown out by bushes or grass, which can obstruct the view. Those curbs are right there at the side of the street and reflect well at night."
He said when the committee that discusses the anonymous suggestions learned of the idea, they immediately jumped into action to get it in place.
With the approval from the streets department, implementation started in the spring.
While firefighters have maps to help them find hydrants, the hope of the blue reflectors is to aid in speeding up the time it takes to find one.
"It's the difference between pinpointing it once you are actually out not looking at it on a map on paper, but you're actually out in the street being able to look down the street sometimes from a quarter mile away and seeing that reflection just makes it a lot easier for our firefighters," he explained.
Right now, about 1,000 of 5,800 hydrants are marked with a blue reflector. Crews will continue to place them as they have time until every hydrant is marked.
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