Seriously... You can’t steal an operational fire hydrant stealthily. There would be a geyser of water 20, 30, 40 feet in the air, right? It’s not like nobody would notice. (See comment #10.)
Plus, you KNOW someone is videoing the scene. Give it a few days...the authorities will be able to ID the perps on YouTube or TikTok.
“You can’t steal an operational fire hydrant stealthily. There would be a geyser of water 20, 30, 40 feet in the air, right?”
I think the valve itself is down at the water main and the thing you turn on top of the hydrant has a shaft down to the valve below.
The water valve is underground on the lateral line.
The hydrant head is not under water pressure with valve closed.
When you turn the stem on the top of a hydrant, it opens the valve by pushing it away from the seat (down) and against the water pressure. The theory is that if someone hits it, the hydrant can shear off and water pressure holds the valve shut. That works most of the time.
Most of the hydrants that you see are called “dry barrel” mainly to prevent freezing.
They will be able to, but won’t.