Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Springfield has as many as 10,000 working fire hydrants and they all must be checked annually.

Now members of Springfield Fire Department are heading out in teams to make sure the important resources are in good working order.

Unit #1 had a four-man team working the neighborhood near the Lincoln Home. Firefighters tell WTAX News not only the homes along 8th street are important but the storage sheds behind the homes contain many valuable historical artifacts, holiday decorations and a lot of state-of-the-art equipment which must be carefully monitored to prevent any danger of fire.

The team we spoke with says they try to get between 10 and 40 hydrants checked each day depending on their call load.

They say you may have noticed the different colored caps on hydrants, red, green, blue and black which designate the amount of water pressure the hydrant can deliver.

The fire team say the rookies get the honor of checking the hydrants under the watchful of a supervisor.