Southeast Texas painting fire hydrants after Ike

A Southeast Texas woman has used colorful paint and her imagination to spruce up a town still recovering from Hurricane Ike.

Lucy Fields since May has painted about 50 fire hydrants in Bridge City, which suffered damage in the 2008 storm. Municipal officials gave the former city council member permission for her personal project.

The Beaumont Enterprise reported Monday the designs include cartoon characters, baseball players, a school bus, an alligator and a lighthouse.

Fields says Bridge City volunteer firefighters have had a hard time finding hydrants still partly hidden by debris. Fields says city personnel have been tied up with fixing roads and other infrastructure repairs so she decided to paint the hydrants herself.

Bridge City is a town of about 7,800, located 95 miles northeast of Houston.