Sacramento authorities baffled by unauthorized fire truck tapping fire hydrants

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Originally published at: Sacramento authorities baffled by unauthorized fire truck tapping fire hydrants | Boing Boing

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I’m more baffled by the question What are they tapping fire hydrants for?

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I’d assume water. Most hydrants around here don’t have beer.

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Yeah. Most likely stealing water, although I’m pretty sure the tanks on the fire engine aren’t rated to keep the water potable. and at 500-750 gallons, that’s a pretty decent amount of water.

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Maybe an illegal grow operation - although that’s a pretty high profile way of stealing water.

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Do you have a list of the ones that do have beer?

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I’d tap that

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I knew you could buy used police cars, but I didn’t know you could buy used fire trucks. Blues Brothers 3 is gonna be whack!!

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Never mind that the water in the hydrant system is far from potable. It’s stagnant in pipes not rated for keeping water from leaching minerals and keeping other things from growing in it. I doubt they pump fresh treated water into the system either.

Kinda like the water in a building’s sprinkler system. That stuff is NASTY. Better than being on fire, but I do not want that stuff anywhere near me or anyone I care about.

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My bet is someone trying to save a few hundred bucks filling up a swimming pool.

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I’d think so too, but then again I’d think it would be pretty easy to locate a bright red vehicle the size of a fire truck driving around the city. We’ve got traffic cameras in tiny little Wisconsin towns, do they not have something similar in Sacramento?

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stealing water to grow pot?

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Sactown reprazent!!!

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LagerVsAle

inception GIF

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Yeah, that’s more of a Portland thing. :rofl:

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I am reasonable sure that the hydrants run off the same water mains as everything else.
This is a whole city, not a single building with a sprinkler system. And the amount of water used to put out fires is negligible compared to the amount of drinking water used every day. Which isn’t used just for drinking, either.

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life off the grid!!!

( which usually involves the grid )

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I just checked, there are several for sale on eBay right now. Cheap, too!

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I was working in a conference venue when someone raised a stage truss into the sprinkler system. The ‘water’ had been sitting in those pipes for 20 years or so.
Pitch black liquid showering a fully prepped stage, and everyone working underneath.
Anyway, we saved all the gear, and had the whole stage reset within an hour.
Because stagehands.

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This feels like a prequel to Mad Max, as water starts getting scarce.

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