All the snow on the ground is causing big problems for firefighters because many hydrants are buried beneath mammoth piles of snow.
As Mayfield Heights resident Arthur Clark cleaned up the huge pile of snow around his home, he never moved the shovel around potentially life-saving equipment: a fire hydrant.
"I'm just thankful you came along and made mention of it," Clark said.
But the hydrant in front of Clark's home isn't the only one that was snow-covered. Dozens are buried beneath the huge piles of snow left behind by both Mother Nature and snowplows.
Mayfield Heights Fire Lt. Bruce Elliott said firefighters try to help residents keep hydrants cleaned off.
"The fire hydrant gets buried up completely and reduces our ability to find that hydrant in case of a real emergency," Elliot said.
So, how can you stay safe?
"You have to dig down a little bit to find out where the connections are, because the connections generally face the street. So, you don't have to worry about the back as much as the front side. It's the most important," Elliott said.
But one push with the shovel isn't enough, Elliott said.
"We have a wrench that goes on those nuts and it actually spins in a circle so we actually need about 12 to 15 inches clearance around that connection," he said.
Elliot said house fires double in size every 20 to 30 seconds, so the time it would take firefighters to clear away the snow could have fatal consequences.
Firefighters said if you have a professional plow company do your driveway, its a good idea to ask crews to try to keep the snow away from the hydrant, and you can do the rest of the cleanup.
