It’s a common misconception that fire hydrants are always supposed to be red, but that is simply not the case.
Perryville City Administrator Brent Buerck explained why residents may see fire hydrants within the city limits with different colored caps.
“If you see a cap that is a different color, that indicates the amount of water flow that can be pulled from that hydrant,” he said. “It communicates immediately to the fire department when they pull up to the hydrant that it is capable of providing x number of gallons per minute. Then, they know if they are going to need a tanker or another kind of equipment to use, and they know how long they can sustain the fighting of the fire.”
Buerck noted that the city’s new emergency management director, Jeremy Mantz, has taken the initiative to identify the hydrants by different cap colors.
“We want people to know that each cap’s color has a special meaning for the fire department,” he said. “It’s not all that important that the public knows what the colors mean, but it’s very important that the fire department does. It won't say what the code means on the hydrants, but it'll communicate immediately to a trained firefighter.”
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), a nonprofit organization focusing on fire, electrical, and building safety, the color-coding scheme usually appears on the tops and nozzle caps; however, it may also appear on the hydrant body. The NFPA’s official hydrant color designations are:
– Red indicates a water-flow capacity of fewer than 500 gallons per minute (GPM).
– Orange indicates a water-flow capacity of 500 to 999 GPM.
– Green indicates a water-flow capacity of 1,000 to 1,499 GPM.
– Blue indicates a water-flow capacity of 1,500 or greater GPM.
Based on the color, firefighters can determine the appropriate pump operations for that hydrant and whether a different hydrant would provide better water flow.
