Edenvale mother and daughter launch app to help residents find fire hydrants
Inspired to help first responders find the nearest hydrant during a fire, a mother and daughter have created a Find My Hydrant App.
Following a fire in Isandovale, Edenvale, last year and a struggle to find a fire hydrant, a mother and daughter were motivated to create an App called Find My Hydrant.
Jackie Momsen, Co-founder and mom, recalled that she had previously witnessed a fire years ago and the first responders had requested a hydrant.
However, when the 2025 fire happened, they could not locate the closest hydrant.
“Eventually, when the fire department came out, they had to use one from the road behind. After they had put the fire out, we decided to go through our whole area to find hydrants so that we could then create a PDF and put it in the group chat so that people would know where the hydrants were,” recounted Jackie.
ALSO READ: Restaurant in Bedfordview catches fire
She said they later decided to expand the initiative to other areas. Jackie is responsible for locating the hydrants, while her daughter and co-founder, Shannon Momsen, is the driving force behind the project’s digital platforms, having developed the PDF guide, website and now the app.
Shannon said fires are unpredictable and that people often panic because they are unprepared when an emergency occurs.
“To help alleviate that extra stress, we wanted to make it much quicker for people to find the nearest hydrant,” she said.
The pair also works closely with firefighter and field adviser Joshua Hastings, whose expertise has helped shape the project by providing valuable insight into the needs of firefighters.
The co-founders initially created an interactive map on their website that allows users, whether residents or first responders, to submit the location of a hydrant. If someone comes across a hydrant, they can simply take a photo and upload it through the app, which automatically records the user’s geolocation, saving valuable time.
ALSO READ: Ekurhuleni firefighters recognised in DEMS International Firefighters’ Day event
Hastings also assisted by incorporating satellite mapping into the system, enabling the app to capture precise GPS coordinates for each hydrant.
They also added boom enclosures because some might be closed at certain times and first responders might not have access, for example if they come at night. Therefore, it would help if they already knew which routes they can access in time.
Shannon shared that Find My Hydrant is a non-profit organisation, and the idea is for people to support the cause because by doing so, it actually ends up benefiting them.
“Unfortunately, we are unable to manually repair the hydrants ourselves. Even if we knew how to, we can’t because it’s municipality property. What we can do with the monetary support that people have given is to go around and paint the road markings of fire hydrants,” said Shannon.
Jackie said that, so far, the team has mapped only the hydrants in Edenvale, but hopes to encourage members of the public to log hydrants in their own areas and add them to the map.
“At the end of the day, it’s also about the safety of firefighters. If they arrive at a fire that has been burning for a long time and is taking time to extinguish, every second counts and could save lives,” she said.
Shannon verifies every submitted hydrant by checking the coordinates against Google Maps to ensure the location is genuine and that the information on the platform is accurate.
The map currently includes 328 hydrants in Edenvale. To encourage community participation, the app also features a leaderboard recognising the residents who have submitted the most hydrants, with a growing number of people already contributing.
Jackie shared that at times when they were out there taking a photo to upload, residents would come out and ask what they were doing. When the duo asked them if they knew this was a hydrant, residents said no.
Shannon said different areas display fire hydrants differently. Some may be indicated by blue ‘cats eyes’ road reflectors, with an ‘FH’ written in yellow. Some are fenced off by residents, making them inaccessible. Some may be underground, and others on the road or pavement, some marked by an arrow on the road pointing to it.
ALSO READ: Ekurhuleni DEMS marks International Firefighters’ Day
Jackie also noted that sometimes in the informal settlements, they may break them for water. Some put rubbish inside them. Therefore, people need to be more informed.
The Momsens said there are fire emergency numbers added on the App and they are also open to suggestions to improve the app.
The app is in testing stages and will be made live to the public in about two weeks. Visit Find My Hydrant at https://findmyhydrant.co.za/
