Finding Minnesota: Milaca's Vibrant Hydrants

MILACA, Minn. (WCCO) – Fire crews in Milaca get two or three calls a month to put out fires in and around their town of 3,000.

It's a lot of work for a volunteer force, but when the firefighters arrive on scene, they just might be greeted by a superhero.

Spider-Man, Batman and other characters have been painted onto many of the town's fire hydrants.

It started with a call for help from the mayor, Pete Pedersen. The city's hydrants were faded and peeling, and Pedersen came up with an idea for an "adopt a hydrant" program.

Racquel O'Brien and her family answered the call, transforming 25 hydrants into characters like Bob the Builder, Tigger and Super Mario.

"We're grateful for the opportunity," O'Brien said. "It's so fun to make the town kind of our own."

It was also gratitude that motivated another group -- a group with a more traditional approach.

Gary Hendrickson was one of six Vietnam vets who started talking about the hydrant program at the VFW, and agreed to freshen up the red ones.

"Jokingly, I said 'I haven't painted the town red for 28 years, and it kind of would be fun to do that again,'" Hendrickson said.

"And then the next thing you know, we're painting fire hydrants," said Navy veteran Tom Kvamme.

They're men in their 60s and 70s who committed to scrape, clean and paint hydrants -- 114 of them.

"I felt it was important, kind of a duty to my city," said Army veteran Don Wills.

The group added its own finishing touch to the group of red hydrants.

"We've got stickers with the five branches of the service and the National Guard, which is playing a big role these days," Kvamme said.

"Since I'm a Navy man, I put on the Navy sticker there," said Andy Rotz.

Marine veteran Richard Hoeck said the group wants to bring attention to something that often gets overlooked.

"Freedom is, they think it's free and it's not," Hoeck said.

He said it's something that's often taken for granted, much like a fire hydrant.

"It means a lot to have someone say 'welcome home' and 'thank you,'" said Hendrickson.

It's community service that they hope will have a lasting effect.

"I'm very proud," said Wills. "Makes me feel like I've really done something that made a difference."

"Yeah, I think they look fantastic," said Navy veteran George Kaspar.

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