The Town of Essex is looking to inspect privately owned and land lease fire hydrants in the area.
The Essex Fire Department will be presenting its "Private Hydrants Inspection, Maintenance and Fire Safety Plans."
This comes after a motion came forward in August, stating many hydrants on private and land lease properties have not kept up with inspection and maintenance.
Over the summer the municipality was provided with a report of all privately owned hydrants in the area and their maintenance status.
Essex Councillor Sherry Bondy says it's important for firefighters to know if hydrants are functional, where to find them, and that they are inspected and up to date.
"Talking to residents in the land lease communities, they told me they had not seen maintenance in years. So now we're going to know that they are going to be labelled, easy to see and ready to use. Seconds matter when it comes to a fire."
Bondy says this is a way for people who own a land lease or private property to be accountable for their hydrants.
"We're just reminding the owners that there is an Ontario Fire Code and that they have to follow it and they are responsible. The town is responsible for the town-owned fire hydrants, but the private landowners need to ensure compliance with the Ontario Fire Code and I think from time to time it's a good idea for the town to make sure that they are following this."
She says these plans will ensure safety in the area.
"If a fire happens in a trailer park, for example, the homes are all close. This is something we need to ensure for our residents because it's just a basic human right, we live in Canada, we should have basic fire safety."
In Essex, there are around 758 fire hydrants with around 67 hydrants on private property.
The safety plans will be brought forward during Essex's regular council meeting on Monday, October 17.