Between working as a Chanute firefighter and part-time with the ambulance service, a Chanute man has found stress relief in painting fire hydrants.
Jeff Baum, a member of the Chanute Fire Department who also works for Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center EMS, said he has painted two fire hydrants over the past two years as a hobby, and plans to do a couple more.
The hydrants he paints are scrapped ones, and no longer in active use.
“I’ve always wanted one,” Baum said. The two he did are yard decorations at his house, and although he has a “live” hydrant nearby, he said he probably would not paint it.
In the 1970s, many cities made ordinary fire hydrants decorative with patriotic themes or characters. Then the National Fire Protection Act specified colors to indicate how much water would flow from a hydrant to fight a fire.
The colors are not mandatory here, but Chanute follows the system.
(Read more: The Chanute Tribune – news,news/)