Hydrant Heaven
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Watch Hill FD - Washington County, Rhode Island
So how does a small town volunteer fire department in Rhode Island amass a collection over 200 fire hydrants from across North American and Canada? Well, it started like this...
The collection started in 2014 when an elderly gentleman mentioned that he was selling much of his collection of firefighter items including antique fire extinguishers. As the department had been collecting extinguishers for several years, they visited him and bought several extinguishers - while there, they asked about an old, heavily rusted fire hydrant that was almost completely covered by leaves in his yard. They were told that they could have the fire hydrants for fifty dollars each but would to take all of them to which they were surprised to find seven hydrants that were spread throughout the yard almost completely covered by leaves and debris! After a lot of hard work digging and loading them onto a trailer, the department had their first seven hydrants. After spending an incredible amount of time and effort scraping and sanding the first hydrant, the department sought a better way and was fortunate enough to connect with a very kind and generous family owned Rhode Island based sandblasting and painting company that offered their services at an excellent price.
After the four training hydrants were added to the initial seven, the collection just started to grow! Since that time, they have bought them from Craigslist®, Ebay®, yard sales and local newspaper ads as well as from salvage yards, scrap metal dealers and town water departments. The department has even had summer residents pull up in their very expensive cars and excitedly open their trunks to drop off and donate a hydrant that they found or bought in their hometowns throughout the country over the winter!
Whenever possible, the hydrants are painted to match the color of the towns they came from, however, a few are painted certain colors at the request of Watch Hill firefighters such as their college school colors or their favorite colors. These are the hydrants that were so rusted that it was simply impossible to determine their original colors even after scraping away layers and layers of rust.
The original plan was to stop at 100 hydrants until they painted the 100th hydrant Pink at the request of their captain. She proudly showed “her” pink hydrant to her son who promptly decided that he needed to have “his” own hydrant as well. Of course, the department immediately obliged and asked what color he wanted to make “his” hydrant. After a few seconds of thought, he decided that he wanted it to be painted black and white (“just like the fire dogs”). So it was completely coincidental that the 101st hydrant
was painted as a Dalmatian! At that point, the department decided that since they had already crossed the threshold past 100, they should set a new goal of 200 (which was passed almost without noticing).
At present (2022), the Watch Hill Fire Department, currently has a total of 239 fire hydrants on display (with more in the restoration phase), proudly reminding of a critical tool for saving lives and property. The department’s members invite anyone to stop in to visit their garden of multi-colored fire hydrants which many have said is as colorful and as beautiful as a plot of manicured flowers.
More Hydrants...
A wide array of styles, manufacturers, sizes and colors are represented in the collection.
And More Hydrants...
Yet more examples of the many various styles and sizes (and colors...including the 101st hydrant painted in Dalmatian colors!).
And Yet More Hydrants...
In addition to numerous styles of hydrants, some fire sprinkler control valves are represented as well.
And Yet Even More Hydrants...
The hydrants have even begun to sprout up inside the apparatus bay housing Watch Hill's aerial!
Pride in the Red, White and Blue
These three hydrants representing the Red, White and Blue colors of the United States are painted in alternating color patterns.
Never Forget 9/11
This 700+ pound piece of World Trade Center steel was salvaged from Ground Zero and later transferred to the Watch Hill FD from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. It is flanked by two hydrants symbolically painted Red, White and Blue decorated with disks in the discharge ports showcasing the New York City skyline and "Never Forget" while honoring the 343 FDNY firefighters and 60 police officers (NYPD/Port Authority PD) lost on 9/11.
You Guessed It...More Hydrants...
Many more hydrants (and a sprinkler control valve) are in the restoration phase for eventual display.