Fire plugs are an important tool for the CFA when it comes to fighting fires in built up areas, so if you've got one you need to keep it clear.
If someone asked you to identify a fire plug, would you know what one was? You might have one on your property, and if you can't find it, or if it's covered over with plants or other obstacles, then how are the CFA going to find it if they come to your house when it's on fire?
David Ferguson is the Senior Station Officer with the Warrnambool Fire Station, and he's keen to remind people about the importance of the plugs when it comes to the CFA's fire fighting ability.
To demonstrate how they work, we jumped into a fire truck and pretended to be heading out to a fire.
As we drove, David explained the plugs are generally located on people's nature strips, with little blue cat's eyes on the road and marker poles to help point fire fighters to where the plugs are.
The CFA have a map which theoretically tells them where the plugs are, but as David explains that can sometimes be wrong.
In the case of a fire emergency, there are plenty of things the fire fighters are working out while on their way to the fire, and as David says finding the plug is 'one of the things that's going through our heads as we're responding to a fire'.
He goes on to explain the plug itself is a 'fitting which sits in the water main ... it's a steel structure with a cap on it and it has a bit of concrete around it'.
There are a couple of different markers for the plugs in Warrnambool - some have a white post with a red cap nearby, others have a sign indicating how far away the plug is.
Typically the plugs are located around 120 meters apart which is the optimum distance to have access to a plug without compromising water pressure.
The plugs are maintained by Council and Wannon Water, and the CFA also inspect them from time to time, but with around 2,000 plugs in Warrnambool they can't get to them all which is why it's important to make sure, if there's a plug on your property, it's clearly visible and accessible.