Antis Township to get new fire hydrants

Eight hydrants to be installed in underserved locations

Antis Township, Excelsior Fire Department No. 1 of Bellwood and the Altoona Water Authority are working together to install eight new fire hydrants in the township.

Five hydrants have been installed so far: along Spruce, Kingdom and Reed streets in Tipton and on Grandview Road near Reightown Road and on Becker Road at the top of a hill where an authority water line crosses, according to township Manager Doug Brown.

Officials are working to determine the other locations.

The hydrants are generally being placed in underserved areas where firefighters would need to use tankers or where they would need to lay an excessive amount of hose to use a hydrant.

"We're filling in the gaps," Brown said.

Property owners who live near where new hydrants have been installed should call the insurance agents to learn whether they may be eligible for a lower premium, due to improved fire protection, Fire Chief Jack McCloskey suggested.

The township and the Fire Department specify the locations, which are along existing waterlines, according to authority general manager Mark Perry.

"They know where the vulnerabilities are," he said.

Unique among townships served by the authority, Antis has a program under which it provides all the materials for a hydrant installation to the authority, whose workers install it, according to Perry.

The program established the Fire Hydrant Fund, which has disbursed $33,000 for the first five hydrants, according to Brown.

The authority doesn't charge for the installation, as each hydrant becomes an authority asset, and there is no cost to the authority other than labor and equipment use, Perry said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.