A Riverside Boy Scout seeking his Eagle rank recently wrapped up a project to help firefighters locate fire hydrants at night when village streets, lit only by dim gas lamps, are dark.
Mateo Cubas’ project called for applying reflective tape around the protruding top collars of about 435 hydrants located throughout the village. Cubas contacted Public Works Director Dan Tabb, who is also a fire department battalion chief, to get advice and the village’s blessing for the project.
Cubas then made kits consisting of the reflective tape and a wire brush and alcohol to clean the hydrant surfaces before the tape was applied. Cubas also checked each hydrant to make sure the tape was applied correctly to each hydrant and fix any mistakes.
