INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis Fire Department firefighters and Citizens Energy Group employees spent their Sunday morning panting the town teal to raise money for a good cause.
The event,“Badges for Burn Camp,” is part of an initiative for IFD Recruit firefighters to engage in a community service project beyond their commitment to serve.
IFD recruits from Class #88 and several Citizens employees identified 300 hydrants to paint for today's event, according to IFD. The 55 member class was divided into 26 teams and assigned pre-selected hydrants to complete.
“Taking an oath to serve - not only includes firefighting and EMS duties but also giving back to the citizen’s we serve with time and talent. We strive to reinforce this culture of service early in a firefighters career and encourage all of our members to continue this outreach during their time on the job.”
“Badges for Burn Camp” raises money to send burn survivors to Hoosier Burn Camp. This is the 7th hydrant painting event since 2015.
“At Citizens, we know the importance of home heating safety and fire prevention. That is why it’s imperative that we make sure our hydrants are working properly and highly visible so firefighters can do their jobs effectively,” said Jeff Willman,” Citizens Vice President of Water Operations.
Citizens maintains over 38,000 hydrants in and around Marion County and while the hydrants are tested annually, the painting of the hydrants, typically occurs on a 7-year rotation.
Citizens often outsources some of the painting duty for about 4,000 of the hydrants to a local company. The money raised from the Badges for Burn Camp comes from the money allocated for the outsourced hydrants and is donated to the camp.
The first 6 events helped raise $50,000. IFD is waiting for the estimate for this year's donations.
