Valve

[Mr Fixit]

Reinhard. I took a look at the Vernon Fire Departments website but I couldnt see any fire hydrants.

They do sound like a top notch Fire Department and very proud of their city which is only 5.2 sq miles.

I think that they maybe very flattered that a guy in Germany is bothering to model their city of industry.

It might also be a good excuse to model some Vernon Fire Department trucks responding to an alarm in one of the buildings you are going to model. I reckon they would get a kick out of that. Hell everyone wants to include a fire situation or a HAZMAT situation on their layout so why not accurately model the VFD.

Mark

[faraway]

Mark, that is an Vernon fire hydrant


In fact Vernon is one of the very few US cities with a class A fire brigade at equal level with NYC etc. Vernon is a very special city. You may search here for Vernon. Russ explained some unique points to me. This article ( http://www.economist.com/node/18651464 ) in The Economist might be an appetizer It is all very special in Vernon, CA....

ps. This is a longer article dealing with Vernon, it's friends and some other people.. http://www.laweekly.com/2011-06-02/news/...ohn-perez/

[Mr Fixit]

Reinhard

Well that is DEFINITELY a Fire Hydrant.

Then what the hell are those other pipe arrangements?

Mark

[torikoos]

Reinhard

Well that is DEFINITELY a Fire Hydrant.

Then what the hell are those other pipe arrangements?

Mark

Oddly enough, the fire hydrant is yellow, I thought they're supposed to be red? Yellow is the colour (in Europe) for gas main pipes etc. So gas must have another colour in the US, since yellow is clearly used for fire hydrants, at least in some areas.

Koos :? :?

[Mr Fixit]

Exactly Koos.

As I said in an earlier post, Fire related Equipment like the lids of fire hydrants and booster cupboards is red here in Melbourne with a blue reflective patch and or a blue cats eye on the road and i believe the situation is similar in Sydney.

However when you go to Canberra, our National Capital, the hydrants and also the fire trucks are yellow. Go figure!

If you are looking for an interesting read then I suggest reading the LA Times link Reinhard posted.

Vernon maybe a small city filled with industry but it is also filled with corruption.

It makes for a very interesting read and certainly provides Reinhard with a very interesting backstory to go with his layout.

Mark

[MountainMan]

Reinhard

Well that is DEFINITELY a Fire Hydrant.

Then what the hell are those other pipe arrangements?

Mark

Oddly enough, the fire hydrant is yellow, I thought they're supposed to be red? Yellow is the colour (in Europe) for gas main pipes etc. So gas must have another colour in the US, since yellow is clearly used for fire hydrants, at least in some areas.

Koos :? :?

Gas lines are white.

Lots of towns have yellow hydrants, just as they have yellow, white or even lime green fire engines.

[torikoos]

Another prime example of international standarisation....

red and yellow fire mains, white and yellow gas mains, yet white pipes with a circular blue ring painted on them indicate potable water, a black ring is (you've guessed it) black water (sewage) etc. , but no doubt that's different in other parts of the world/country again too. :-)
We drive on different sides of the roads in places (no I'm not starting the debate on who's right) thank god the traffic signals are generally agreed upon, although railroad signal masts often have the order of the lamps (The way they're fitted) upside down compared to road traffic lights...

No wonder people get confused....

[Russ Bellinis]

I just saw this post. I think all of the industrial buildings are required to have permanently installed sprinklers systems as well as the city fire hydrants. I think those valves are external shut off valves to allow the sprinkler system to be shut off from outside as well as to allow shutting off the water to service the systems. They may be the water main for water supply to everything inside the building including the sprinklers. I never paid much attention to them, but it seems to me every commercial or industrial building I've seen has those or similar valves.

[Russ Bellinis]

Right after I posted the previous answer, I had to go out. I went by a restaurant that had one of those valves in front between the sidewalk and the street. It had fire dept signs on it, so I suspect it is a fire main. I suspect that the city puts fire hydrants every so far apart, but requires each commercial building to have their own fire fighting system.

[faraway]

Russ, thank you for investigation on the scene. That was my guess. It is used to have an independent intake for the sprinkler system. That is a nice detail for industrial layouts.

ps. The Vernon fire chief did not respond to my question. I assume the question was to crude to be taken serious.

[Mr Fixit]

Re; The Fire Chief

Reinhard after reading all about Vernon and its sordid past and present I think that given the Fire Chief is now temporarily in charge of the administration of Vernon and fighting with the Senator, he is unfortunately a bit damn busy to answer your question.

Mark

[ratled]

That is in fact a Fire Department Connection (FDC) on the OP. They are used by the fire dept to supply water to the stand pipes (water hose outlets in a complex or building), a fire sprinkler system, (to augment or straight supply) or both stand pipes and sprinklers.

The little red pipe is a PIV - Post Indicator Valve (A simpler one pictue ). It is used to control the water to the system and show if the system is open or closed. That's is what is in the little glass window is for on the pipe. The little red box on the side with the black cable coming out of it is the tamper valve. If you shut down the system - say to burn the building down - it will will sound off at the alarm monitoring company.

I hope this helps

ratled

[fast car]

Ratled is correct. We have a similar offsite valve setup at the facility where I work. However ours is nestled in a small structure since we have snow about five months out of the year. It is fire related and our security department open the valves and purge it monthly and it does have an external alarm and flashing strobe that activates when the system is being purged or if the system has been compromised.

[BR60103]

I think he Canadian equivalent is a sign outside a door "Siamese Connection Inside". Don't know what, but there are usually a pair of FD connectors at the bottom of some pipe.
Again, we do contend with some below freezing temperatures.