An essay by Sean Robertson.
The yellow fire hydrant near the loading dock sits under the mounting point of a small white security camera, between the school's brick wall and two metal posts. The posts, almost half a foot thick and several inches taller than the hydrant, are painted in a yellow slightly brighter than the hydrant's yellow — similar enough to not disturb a casual observer, but different enough to indicate a gap in installation dates. Presumably the posts were added to this hydrant, and the other street-level hydrants at ConVal, to create a barricade between them and the inexperienced high-school drivers. While hitting one of the posts could cause serious damage to a vehicle, a collision with a fire hydrant would be a much more expensive ordeal.
Around the grounds of ConVal are at least six other fire hydrants, each of them with the same yellow color, and each designed in both manufacture and placement to be accident- and tamper-resistant. The yellow color may be a protective measure itself, as the color both signifies caution and contrasts with the brick siding of the school. Most are also under the constant surveillance of a nearby security camera mounted on the school's wall, and as is standard with most fire hydrants in the United States, the hose-attachment valves are equipped with pentagonal (rather than hexagonal) nuts that require a special type of wrench to open.
The security measures may seem redundant, but the importance of protecting a fire hydrant should not be underestimated. The potential damage of a high-pressure jet of water makes it important to protect hydrants against accidents — and makes a hydrant a prime target for anyone trying to cause destructive mischief.