#135 Fire Hydrant Obstruction

I am a full-time resident of a community of approximately 700 people. However, every summer, the population of my community jumps to about ten times that. Many people have summer homes or cottages that they visit on the weekends, and from Memorial Day through Labor Day my community is a busy, bustling place. We locals call these people "cidiots." City + idiot = cidiot. Here's one of the many reasons:

The Licensing and Regulatory Affairs in the state in which I live have posted press releases in recent years reminding residents to keep a 3-foot minimum radius of clearance from fire hydrants so that first responders can quickly access this essential equipment. These press releases are generally released during the winter months when snow removal is a total pain in the ass essential, but it really applies all year round.

I'm struggling to understand the logic behind placing the trash bags immediately surrounding the fire hydrant. This particular residence has at least 60 feet of street frontage, not including the driveway. Why was this location selected out of all other potential locations? Did the residents think that the trash collectors would not see their heaping pile of garbage bags if they were in a different location - perhaps 20 or 30 feet away? I mean, it is literally the trash collectors' job to drive up and down the street and collect the garbage at the side of the road. There could be no possible way that they would miss this heap if it were anywhere else along the property line.

Considering the location of this particular hydrant, I am extremely pissed off that these residents think this is acceptable. This is the closest hydrant to my house, and if a fire occurred and the hydrant needed to be accessed, this could potentially cause a delay with getting water onto the fire. I wonder if the people who dumped this garbage considered the same for their cottage? Oh right, probably not, because they don't really "need" their cottage. They would likely be pleased they could claim it as a total loss and get a big fat check to build a new cottage in its place.

So, yeah: cidiots.