As the winter storm approaches, Pullman residents should free fire hydrants of snow as a safety precaution.

There are more than 1,000 fire hydrants in Pullman, and the fire department cannot clear all of them, he said. The fire department would like people to “adopt” a fire hydrant.

The city code states that fire hydrants should have three feet of clearance around them, Fire Chief Mike Heston said.

Heston said one of the issues is that snowplows move snow to the sides of the road, which can easily bury fire hydrants and make them nearly invisible.

The more snow a fire hydrant already has around it, the harder it will be to clear of snow, he said.

If there were a fire and a fire hydrant was buried beneath snow, the fire department would be forced to use another hydrant, which would slow down the process of putting out the fire, Heston said.

If anyone needs assistance clearing a fire hydrant of snow, knows about a fire hydrant that is buried or sees water leaking or icicles hanging out of a hydrant like it is leaking, call (509)-338-3270, Heston said.