Fire Hydrant Repair in Norco

When a Norco hydrant gets hit or written up

Two things usually bring the call. A car hits the hydrant. Or an inspector cites it. Eight of the Norco calls we've logged were about fire hydrants, and the problems ran from missing caps flagged at an annual inspection to a hydrant struck by a guest's vehicle in a hotel lot.

A private hydrant has one job. It has to open, flow and seal when a fire crew hooks up. In Norco those crews come from CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department, which the city contracts with for fire and emergency response (Station 57 is on Corydon Avenue).

Whose hydrant is it?

Hydrants on the public water system belong to the city, which runs its own water utility through Public Works. Call them for those. A hydrant past your service connection, on the underground fire line that feeds your property, is private. That one is yours to fix. Not sure which you have? We'll sort it out on site.

Clearing a fire marshal correction

Fire and life-safety inspections for Norco businesses go through the Riverside County Fire Department's Office of the County Fire Marshal. Its Norco Eastvale Fire Marshal's Office is at 3902 Hillside Avenue (951-737-8097). If that office cited your hydrant, keep the correction notice: it lists what has to be fixed and the date it has to be done by, and that date sets our schedule. Ask the office how it wants the repair verified before you book the re-inspection.

Norco's fire code also requires hydrant locations to be marked following Riverside County Fire Department guidelines, so if the marker went missing along with the hydrant, tell us when you call.

What the repair work looks like

Most jobs start by shutting the control valve that isolates the hydrant, so the rest of the fire line can stay in service where the valve layout allows it. From there the work depends on what failed:

• Missing or damaged caps, cap gaskets and chains
• Leaks at the outlets, the bonnet or the drain
• A stuck or stripped operating nut or stem
• Broken parts after a vehicle strike, up to replacing the hydrant

Once it's back together, we flush it, check that it opens fully and drains, and look for leaks with the valve open. Private hydrants also need an annual flow test and inspection under NFPA 25, so if yours is due, it often makes sense to do it on the same visit (our annual fire hydrant testing in Norco page explains what that involves). NFPA 291 sets the bonnet color code by flow class, so a new bonnet gets painted to match the tested flow.

Price follows the damage. A recent Norco hydrant repair quote came to $3,950. Caps cost far less.

Licensed for hydrant work in California

In California our work is done by Hedrick Fire Protection. Hedrick 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, which is the category private hydrants fall under.

Hydrant repair questions from Norco

The fire department flagged missing caps on our outside hydrant. Can you fix that?

Yes. We replace the missing caps and gaskets and check the outlets while we're there. Then you can schedule the re-inspection.

Do you do hydrant flow testing for ADU permits?

We flow test hydrants. The fire flow your permit needs comes out of the fire authority's plan review, so confirm the target number with the fire marshal's office before we test.

Are you located in Norco, or do I drop something off?

Hydrant work happens where the hydrant is. We come to your site in Norco.

Who repairs a hydrant on the city water system?

The City of Norco's Public Works Water Utility Division handles hydrants on the city system. Private hydrants on your own fire line are the owner's job, and we repair those.

To book a hydrant repair in Norco, call (951) 384-0323 or email us at socal@1profire.com. Photos of the damage help.