Is that hydrant yours or the city's?
Start at the property line. A hydrant on your private fire service main (the underground line that runs past the public connection to feed your buildings) is yours to keep working. Curb hydrants are different. They sit on the public water system that Burbank Water and Power supplies, and we don't test them.
NFPA 24 covers private fire service mains and the hydrants and valves on them. NFPA 25 sets the schedule: each private hydrant gets inspected and flow tested once a year.
One thing people mix up: BWP takes Hydrant Flow Data Requests for flow and pressure data used in design work. That's a BWP request. It isn't your annual test.
Who looks at your site in Burbank
Burbank has its own fire department. It's a City of Burbank department, separate from LA County Fire. Its Fire Prevention Bureau handles fire permits, plan checks and inspections, including routine fire and life safety inspections of commercial and multi-family properties and checks of sprinkler and special protection systems. Not sure whether hydrants come up on your inspection? Ask the bureau. You can reach it through the Burbank Fire Department pages on the city website.
Got a notice? Keep it. The wording tells us what you actually need.
What we do at each hydrant
- Check access. Nothing parked, planted or stacked in the way.
- Inspect the outside: caps, threads, gaskets, the operating nut, and any sign of impact damage or leaks.
- Open the hydrant fully and flow water to clear the barrel and show the supply reaches the outlet.
- Close it, then confirm the valve seats and a dry-barrel hydrant drains.
- Lubricate the operating parts where needed.
When a measured flow and pressure reading is called for, the technician takes it at the outlet using the method in NFPA 291. Results are recorded hydrant by hydrant. If your insurer or the bureau wants them in a set format, say so when you book.
When a hydrant fails
Stems stick. Caps crack. If a hydrant won't open, won't seat or won't drain, we'll tell you what failed and what the fix involves, and the repair is booked as its own job through fire hydrant repair in Burbank. Ongoing upkeep between tests is covered under fire hydrant maintenance, and new hydrants go through fire hydrant installations.
Who does the work
Our California work is done by Hedrick Fire Protection, which holds C-16 (fire protection) and C-10 (electrical) contractor licenses and is licensed by the California State Fire Marshal under Title 19 for inspection, testing and maintenance of water-based fire protection systems. Burbank is one of the cities we cover from our Burbank service page. Testing hydrants elsewhere too? See annual hydrant testing in Los Angeles County or annual hydrant testing in Orange County.
To book, call (213) 568-0188 or email socal@1profire.com. Tell us how many hydrants you have and where they sit on the lot.
Burbank hydrant testing questions
Is the curb hydrant outside our lot part of this?
No. Curb hydrants are on the public system BWP supplies. We test the private hydrants on your own fire service main.
We got a notice from the fire department. Is this the service we need?
Read us the notice when you call. If it names hydrants or the private fire main, this is the test you need. If it's about extinguishers, see fire extinguisher annual certification in Burbank.
Our sprinklers run off the same main. Are they tested too?
Not as part of the hydrant test. Sprinklers follow their own NFPA 25 schedule, including the 5-year Title 19 certification, and we handle that through fire sprinkler service.