If you see Athens firefighters hanging out around your fire hydrant anytime soon, don’t be alarmed.

This is the time of year when the fire department begins painting hydrants and removing overgrowth around those that need it, Athens Fire & Rescue Chief Bryan Thornton said Wednesday.

“We are fixing to get out and clean up around them and weed eat and green the caps and stuff when we can get to them,” Thornton said. “We’re trying to maintain 1,300 fire hydrants in the city of Athens, and they are getting added every day because of all the new subdivisions.”

Hydrants are painted yellow for safety because they are located beside the road, Thornton said. But sometimes they simply need a new coat of paint.

“We know which hydrants need attention, but we have to do it between calls,” he said. Translation: Don’t call to report your hydrant; they’ll get to it.

At other times, the bonnet, or round cap atop the hydrant, needs a color change. Hydrant bonnets are painted one of four colors — red, orange, green or blue, Thornton said.

The bonnet color tells firefighters how many gallons of water per minute flow from the hydrant when it’s opened, he said. For example:

Red means 0-500 gallons per minute;

Orange means 500 to 1,000 gpm;

Green means 1,000 to 1,500 gpm; and

Blue means over 1,500 gpm.

“When my guys pull up to a house on fire and they are gonna hook up, they already know what the hydrant is gonna give them by the color,” Thornton said.

The color system is set by the National Fire Protection Association and the city of Athens gets ISO (Insurance Services Office) points for using the NFPA markings, Thornton said.

(An area’s ISO fire score is a rating that determines how well the fire department can protect homes. In turn, the ISO score on your homeowner’s insurance policy is used to set rates.)

In addition to painting and weeding around hydrants, firefighters occasionally perform a flow test on them to make sure they are still pushing water at the same rate. If the water system is improved in an area, say with a larger water main, the water flow may increase, Thornton said. A flow test will show that and the bonnet color will need changing.

Do not paint or decorate

If you have a hydrant near your house, never paint it yourself.

“You are not suppose to paint them,” Thornton said. “They are city property, and we maintain them.”

Some residents dislike the overall look of hydrants and try to camouflaging their own with flowers and shrubs.

“A lot of people want to put a decorative flower bed around it and hide it,” Thornton said.

This can make it difficult to find the hydrant in the dark and it can also make it a chore to access the fixture during a fire.

“You are supposed to leave an open area three feet in circumference around it without growth, trees or bushes,” Thornton said. “The best thing to do is not put it in a flower bed.”

Translation: Firefighters are trying to save lives and property, don’t make their job more difficult.