Junction City Fire Chief Terry Johnson said this weekend as fire hydrant testing proceeds the Fire Department wants to recognize the local Boy Scouts of America, Troop 41, for their work on painting fire hydrants as their Eagle Scout project.

The body of the fire hydrant is painted the traditional red color. The top of the hydrant is painted in relation to the amount of water that would be available to firefighters in the event a fire occurs. The color coding of fire hydrants helps the Fire Department since it gives an indication to firefighters of the amount of water available. That saves time when they are responding to a blaze.

The colors are:

Black – 0 to 250 gallons per minute

Red – 251 – 300 gallons per minute

Orange – 501 – 999 gallons per minute

Green – 1,000 to 1,499 gallons per minute

Blue – 1,500 and above gallons per minute

Multiple factors are involved in the amount of water a fire hydrant can provide including the size of the waterline, age of the water line, how far it is from the water tower or pumps and the age of the fire hydrant.

Boy Scout Troop 41 has begun to paint the hydrants as part of a required community project for the Scouts to rise to the level of Eagle Scout. During the process they will clean and paint the hydrants to provide the Fire Department with accurate identification of hydrants for the amount of water that is available for firefighting purposes.