Why Do People Steal Fire Hydrants? Officials Aren't Sure, But There's One Valuable Possibility

Thieves are increasingly targeting bizarre items with a recent rash of fire hydrants that are disappearing from streets across Los Angeles. While it's not confirmed, local officials are speculating that it might be due to some highly valued brass pieces within the hydrants. According to Golden State Water Company, who owns the fire hydrants in affected neighborhoods (via LAist), in excess of 300 units were illegally taken between late 2023 and spring 2024 alone. 

Naturally, residents are concerned when discovering a major tool for fighting house fires is suddenly gone. The L.A. County Fire Department has gone as far as stating that this behavior presents a danger to the community at large. In a statement (via ABC7), the L.A. County Fire Department explained, "The theft of fire hydrants poses a threat to public safety as it hampers the fire department's ability to quickly respond to fires and protect lives and property."

Intelligent thieves are typically only going to target an item that is valuable and one they can easily sell. So, who is buying stolen fire hydrants? It could be salvage yards, which deal heavily in bulk metals and other materials. Unfortunately, for those in the scrap business, it's not always clear what is and isn't an illegally obtained item. This has been an issue with other crime waves over the years that have involved stolen copper and catalytic converters.

But obviously someone with a fire hydrant had to have stolen it, right? Not necessarily, as one example demonstrates (via Reddit), a person posted that after purchasing their home, they noticed two fire hydrants the previous owners used as outdoor decoration. Some areas, like Fort Myers, Florida, have public and private fire hydrants. Private hydrants (which in Florida are painted red) are located on private property and require homeowners to maintain them. 

Headlines about theft grab a lot of reader attention, and it can appear that nothing is being done about it, when that couldn't be farther from the truth. LA officials have organized a special task force specifically focused on combating this issue that includes multiple agencies and stations. In addition, Golden State Water Company hasn't just been replacing missing hydrants, but crews have also been fitting them with anti-theft measures like a locking base.

While fire hydrants are present along roads all over the country and dotted among residential and commercial districts, they easily blend into the background and are often forgotten about until firefighters need them to extinguish a dangerous blaze threatening to engulf multiple structures. Hydrants first showed up only around 180 years ago, and they have dramatically improved communities' ability to save lives and properties.

Before fire hydrants, there was something called the "bucket brigade," which involved lengthy rows of people handing buckets of water from person to person, starting at a stream or pond, all the way to the site of a fire. Fortunately, there are plenty of tools today to combat flames, including fire extinguishers, which are one of the emergency tools you should always keep in your car. While fire hydrants help tremendously in populated cities, the backcountry has no such luxury, and you won't believe how quickly wildfires can travel across a forest.