Eagle Scout projects that manage to tap into a Scout’s other interests almost always make a special impact for that Scout and for his community. Such was the case with the fire hydrants project completed by Scout Jared B., who also participates in his local Exploring program as a Fire Explorer.

While most communities have a network of fire hydrants, some communities, particularly those in more rural areas, feature a network of “dry” fire hydrants. These hydrants are part of a network of underground pipes that connect to water supplies like ponds, lakes, or rivers.

In the rural communities where these dry fire hydrants are common, often their location may not be well known, and they may not be frequently maintained and kept easily accessible.

Because of his participation as a Fire Explorer, Jared had developed an interest in firefighting, which helped drive him to complete an Eagle Scout project that would benefit his community’s firefighters.

He carefully located all of the hydrants in the county, recording and mapping their GPS locations as well as describing pavement types, clearing grass or other growth from around the hydrants, documenting the thread type and size on each hydrant for improved access, painting them, creating signage, photographing each hydrant, and delivering the completed report to the county fire marshal.

The project represented more than 400 hours of work, but the details on the location of all of these fire hydrants should help to improve the fire department’s access to them. That will, in turn, help to improve the ability of the local firefighters to do their work with greater levels of success.

Jared is a Scout and Explorer in the Boy Scouts of America National Capital Area Council. To learn more about his Eagle Scout project, be sure to read the full article in the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, and for more on the Exploring program, head to Exploring.org. 

To learn more about the positive impact that Scouting can have on young people like Jared, be sure to check out this article on the recent Tufts study, and watch this video: