Click the play button on the video window to the right to see the storyMixed in among the donkeys, cats, deer and even cactus, one particular lawn decoration did not sit so well with firefighters in Payson.
"It was funny. It was excitement for the day," Roberta Cannafax said.
Another neighbor said, "In a way it's funny, in another way, it's tragic."
Only a small hole remains where a faux fire hydrant once stood. The fake is now tucked behind the Payson Fire Department's headquarters.
"It's serious business," said fire Chief Martin deMasi. "It's nothing to monkey with."
Just a few weeks ago, firefighters rushed to put out a fire at a mobile home on Phoenix Street, but when they tried to hook up to the hydrant, they found it was a fake.
DeMasi said firefighters "went to make their connections and no water."
Crews had to scramble to find a real hydrant several hundred yards away, costing them precious time.
"The confusion and extra work that goes into it adds time and time is critical when you're fighting a fire," deMasi said.
Firefighters were able to put out the fire and have since been on the lookout for additional fakes.
Officials are looking into whether this hydrant was an innocent lawn decoration or something more.
"A more ominous motive might be insurance fraud because some insurance companies will give a credit if you are within 1,000 feet of a hydrant," deMasi said.
The only fake hydrant that will be allowed to remain in town is one in front of a veterinarian's office.
