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Students recruited to paint hydrants

JOEL C. THOMPSON jthompson@ctpost.com
Monday, October 18, 2004-

BRIDGEPORT — With more than 2,000 hydrants across the city in need of a paint job, the Fire Department is looking for help from the community to finish the job.

As a first step, fire Capt. Charles Dimbo on Saturday organized Longfellow School seventh- and eighth-graders to paint about 200 hydrants in their neighborhood with the help of their parents.

"It's impossible for firefighters, responding to fires, accidents and medical calls to paint all the hydrants," said Dimbo, an aide to Fire Chief Michael Maglione. "We felt painting the hydrants was a good way for parents and their kids to do something together on a Saturday morning."

Dimbo said the Fire Department will provide the paint and brushes, along with snacks and lunch items, for those who helped with the project.

The hydrants as a whole need painting because they have been painted only on a spot basis in the past, he said.

While the effort Saturday concentrated on the area around Longfellow School, the P.T. Barnum Apartments and the Goodwill Industries headquarters, the fire captain said another hydrant-painting program with volunteers from another school will be organized before daylight gets too short and the weather too cold to paint.

He said he will be in contact with Harding and Central high schools, Luis Marin School and Wilbur Cross School to invite students to join in the activity.

Those hydrants that aren't painted this fall will be done next year, starting in early April, he said.