I’ve seen firefighters just push the car out of the way or break windows. Why not this time? Smash the window out, open the door, hook hose up.
this post was submitted on 16 Feb 2026
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Smash doors off, pipe water through the car. It is of no concern to me how much water gets left inside the car.
Last time I was near an apartment fire, the fire department didn't even waste time asking the crowd if anyone could move the car or figuring out if another hydrant was near, they just pulled in, lined the fire engine bumper up with the SUV, and pushed it fully out of the way of the hydrant. Tires all fucked up and one popped on the curb.
100% deserved. Don't park in front of hydrants.
Maybe they did? It still would take critical time. But I agree it would be totally appropriate.
Perhaps they did, and the extra 2 minutes it cost them was enough to doom the tenant.
That's what they're supposed to do. Id be asking them why they didn't in addition to being mad at the person who parked in front of the hydrant
I’d be more than mad, I’d want to at least charge them and see if their actions fit negligent homicide. Moral luck isn’t fair, but don’t fucking park in front of hydrants and it won’t come up like this.
Why don't they put curb bumpouts at fire hydrants?
I've never understood why they don't for roads where there is a parking lane. Or why the connection is perpendicular to the curb rather than parallel.
However, as with most safety things I assume there must be a valid reason they have been installed in this manner for decades.
I would guess they face forward because they want it to blow into the street during clean out rather than onto the sidewalk? Alternately, if they have to pull across the street, maybe they don't want the main hose to kink if pulled sideways.
~~What I really don't understand is why they don't make one of the smaller side hose taps the same size as the front pumper tap. You could have an adapter already on it too, so you can connect either size hose just as quickly.~~ Nvm, I did some research and this is already a thing, often with 45 degree hydrants called the "Chicago Standard" (not enough, IM^(uneducated)O).
Unfortunantly, the number 1 reason most safty things dont happen is cost. Red paint on a curb is way, way cheaper than a concrete bump out or other physical barrrier, and it occasionaly generates ticket revenue. Win win from a city budget perspective.
Its why bike lanes are often nice cheap white lines, or in exotic US locals pretending to care, slighlty less cheap green paint paths.
Yep. Read "There are no accidents" by Jessie Singer to see why tragedies like this happen.
whenever you dont understand engineering decisions the answer is always cost.
NYC literally lines their curbs with steel plates. Cost is not an issue in this city.
I'm guessing where it snows this would be hard to plow
So cops can park there.
Or why not placing them further on the sidewalk so there's never a car that close to it? You don't even need to have that spot free of cars, enough space for the hoses to get around it.
The fact the plate wasn't shown is disappointing. Call them out and name and shame. The one parked there during the fire needs to be charged with manslaughter.
Cars preventing emergency services like the usual
They should make rain gardens in front of fire hydrants instead of leaving the space open for parking
I thought if that happened the fire truck would just ram the car. What happened?
You can find plenty of photos where the firefighters just smashed out the car windows and ran their hoses through the car.
Well, advcoste of the devil here. Statistically a fire happening roughly in the same place where the same hydrant is needed for is rather low.
But technically the level of asshole-ness of the driver doesn't decrease because of this.
And of course there's no excuse to do this.
Yes, statistically, each individual time someone does something selfish with the commons for their own benefit, the chance that there will be negative consequences is relatively small, or else the people around them would not capitulate to the antisocial behaviour. Then they chip away a bit more, and a bit more.
Yeah I know, I was just joking around. People are dumb and selfish.