Hydrant Testing No Cause for Alarm: Now You Tell Me!

A very long time ago, I was driving to work. It was late; I was working thirds. As I was driving through town, I noticed that every fire hydrant I passed was open and spewing water all over the street. I don't remember who was on the air at the time, but he didn't seem to be too concerned when I told him. So as soon as I got on the air, I announced that hydrants all over town had exploded. I was young, very young.

Well, thank God, it was the middle of the night--literally. As it turns out, it was a perfectly routine exercise. But I did get a few calls--including one from the fire department explaining that it was perfectly harmless. I don't know why I hadn't noticed that sort of thing before, but then again, I was new at working overnight. So I guess I had just never seen it before. Anyway, while I was embarrassed at the time, it makes for a good laugh now. Just another radio war story in a long line of them. I was reminded of this incident after learning that the Owensboro Fire Department will begin testing hydrants this Monday, June 6. But this time, I'll leave the chicken little routine at home.