Fire hydrants and emergency services

TheFarix-PGOTheFarix-PGO Posts: 5,063 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited March 2022 in April AMA - 2022

Several individuals have argued that fire hydrants, painted or otherwise, should not fall under the rejection category of interfering with emergency services. The last time a Niantic employee spoke about this was to state that fire hydrants would fall under that category, but this was before the criteria refresh and many argue that the statement is no longer valid. Do fire hydrants still fall under the category of emergency services? And if not, what about other emergency service equipment such as automated external defibrillators, life preservers, fire extinguishers, and emergency call boxes?

Post edited by NianticTintino-ING on
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  • tehstone-INGtehstone-ING Posts: 1,154 Ambassador

    If we are meant to be this strict about interfering with EMS, how much space around a hydrant, external defibrillator, life preserver, fire extinguisher, emergency call box, etc should be considered ineligible? Clearly it is not just the object itself but also the access to it that matters, does another object with 1-5 meters also count as interfering? Does this restriction also extend to candidates alongside painted fire lanes or other areas that EMS vehicles can be expected to operate?

  • auntergoaf-PGOauntergoaf-PGO Posts: 159 ✭✭✭✭

    I don't think automated external defibrillators, life preservers, and fire extinguishers fall under the rejection of interfering with emergency services since they are rarely used at the installation location, what do you think?

  • TheFarix-PGOTheFarix-PGO Posts: 5,063 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The same argument can be made for rural fire stations. That does not mean they are exempt from the emergency services rejection and removal criteria.

  • RedActedS-PGORedActedS-PGO Posts: 73 ✭✭✭

    I have seen emergency vehicles use fire hydrants many times, but I have never seen emergency vehicles using the installed life preservers, fire extinguishers, and emergency call boxes.

  • ArabellaArdelia-PGOArabellaArdelia-PGO Posts: 236 ✭✭✭

    Back in 2020, I was staying at a friend's place when a car in her parking garage caught fire. Everyone got out of the building, the fire department was called, and they did in fact use the hydrant across the street from her complex in order to put the fire out. As far as interfering goes - the hydrant was across the street from both the apartment complex (where the fire actually was) and the area where the trucks parked (incidentally, they parked at a trailmarker waypoint that was in every Niantic game in existence at that point), so the area near the hydrant was deemed by the fire department to be the best location for residents to stand while we waited for them to put the fire out. I've included a picture here for illustration purposes - didn't have a hydrant emoji on hand so I used a fire extinguisher one to mark where the hydrant was located - I feel it still conveys my point. The fire, trucks, and pokestop represent the actual locations of those items in this instance. So based on my experience I would say it is VERY situational, and that it would've been much worse for us to crowd around the trailmarker waypoint in this instance as opposed to the hydrant that they TOLD us to crowd around.


  • tp235-INGtp235-ING Posts: 1,383 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Let me get a few things straight, if there were an approvable quality POI on the fire station wall, vehicle entrance and exit, I am sorry, but it would be something that should be denied.

    It interferes with emergency services.

    Unfortunately, it means a good quality but unusable POI.


    However, if there were a POI that could be approved as a separate segment, such as a park across from the fire station or a monument next to a fire hydrant, it should be approved.

    I think the case of @ArabellaArdelia-PGO , who gathered near a fire hydrant at the direction of a firefighter, is similar to this.

    A fire hydrant is not an approved POI. However, trail markers are not denied just because they are next to a fire hydrant.

    This seems to be a point of distinction under current standards.


    Also, automated external defibrillators, life vests, fire extinguishers, and emergency call boxes are often incorporated into POIs (e.g. event venues).

    This is because the laws governing fire and emergency services require their installation.

    Event halls are POIs worthy of approval.

    Therefore, it is not right to deny an event hall because it has automated external defibrillators, life vests, fire extinguishers, and emergency call boxes.

    But when these are nominated separately from the event hall, they will be rejected.


    Also, when automated external defibrillators, life vests, fire extinguishers, and emergency call boxes exist independently outside, they are the same as fire hydrants.


    And it does not matter how often they are used.

    That is not what emergency services are about.

  • tp235-INGtp235-ING Posts: 1,383 ✭✭✭✭✭

    That said, if you are asking if that meets the criteria for POI, NO.

    To begin with, fire extinguishers, lifesaving equipment, and emergency call boxes do not meet the criteria for approval as a POI.

    You may think that all POIs are approved if they do not meet the criteria for disapproval or removal, but if you are a Japanese-educated member of society, you should be able to understand this as a matter of common sense.

  • JP81SayGo-PGOJP81SayGo-PGO Posts: 180 ✭✭✭

    of course.

    However, it is different to deny it because they are nearby.

    If the reason is that these are nearby, public facilities where people gather will be almost useless.

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