Is there anything special about a fire hydrant? Do we take much notice of them? When the village flushes them in the spring or summer, we may notice. Or when there’s a fire in our neighborhood, we’re thankful one is nearby.
Dogs like to relieve themselves on them (is that because they look like bushes or small trees?). But, for the most part, most of us don’t notice fire hydrants too often.
For the past few years, residents have noticed strange flag markers popping up on fire hydrants along Del Webb Blvd. (Photo by Chris LaPelusa/Sun Day)
Which is why a lot of us (including the Sun Day) had not noticed that something special was happening to fire hydrants on Del Webb Boulevard for the past two years. Tiny 4×6-inch plastic flags mounted on red-white-blue poles have been placed on hydrants all along Del Webb from Route 47 to Hemmer Road, and along Sun City Boulevard. One side displays the American flag while the other side displays a flag from various other nations. The Village of Huntley, like most communities, places poles next to hydrants after winter storms to identify their locations for the benefit of snow plowing crews and also for firefighters at the scene of a fire.
How they got there turned out to be a great mystery. Initial inquiries to the association staff, neighborhood groups, and village officials turned up nothing. But last week, this writer caught up with the guy who was most responsible for putting them there. He is James Schwartz, director of the Village of Huntley’s Public Works Department.
Saying the “flagpoles” are not a patriotic display, Schwartz said they are routine but creative replacements for the traditional poles the village has used in the past. “Many of our old plastic poles were getting frayed and our employees were bruising and cutting their hands handling them,” he said. “We looked for some new ones at our vendor, and these painted fiberglass poles with flags were on sale. We believe they look pretty along Sun City and Del Webb Boulevards. They cost about $35 each, and they are much more durable and easy to handle.”
It was almost embarrassing when Schwartz said the village started putting them up in 2012. “When we had a blizzard in February of 2011, we had a hard time finding hydrants along Del Webb Boulevard near the golf course,” he said. “We decided we needed some new, longer poles.”
Here ends the great 2015 flagpole mystery. On to the next secret.
