By Allen Costantini
KARE 11
NORTH OAKS, Minn. — North Oaks depends on Pleasant Lake as a source of water for firefighting by the Lake Johanna Fire Department. The fire department depends, from time to time, on four dry hydrants around the lake.
Dry hydrants, unlike ordinary hydrants on most Twin Cities streets, do not hold water under pressure.
“The fire pump that is on the truck actually drafts water, it pulls a vacuum and draws the water into the truck,” explained Tim Boehlke, Lake Johanna Fire Chief. “If you think of a straw that is in a glass of water, if the end of the straw is plugged, it is going to restrict the amount of water and take longer for you to pull that water through that straw. So, it can take, for us (firefighters), quite a bit longer to refill tankers and engines.”
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