Sign Project Seeks To Expedite Emergency Responses
Sign Project Seeks To Expedite Emergency Responses
By Andrew Gorosko
To simplify emergency services crewsâ responses to calls for help, the Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue Junior Corps is selling highly reflective street-number placards for placement below residentsâ curbside mailboxes.
The green aluminum signs typically are positioned vertically on mailbox posts to provide fire, ambulance, and police personnel with easily identifiable street numbers for the adjacent residences. The placardsâ dual surfaces are coated with highly reflective green paint, which glow brightly when headlamps shine on them in the nighttime.
When a sign is ordered, Junior Corps members apply three-inch-tall white numeric decals to the green signs listing the street number of the address where the sign will be posted.
Sandy Hook Fire Chief Bill Halstead noted that many residentsâ mailboxes have no information posted on them, neither names nor street numbers, sometimes making it difficult to locate residences from which calls for help have been placed.
Also, some houses have long driveways, sometimes making it initially unclear where an emergency exists, he said.
The reflective street-number signs are highly visible when headlamps shine on them at night, making locating the scene of emergencies easier in the dark, he said.
Chief Halstead said when the junior corps suggested the signage program to him, he fully endorsed the idea, considering it a good way to expedite emergency responses.
If residents do not want to mount the signs on their mailbox posts, the signs could be mounted on a vertical pipe, he said.
Karin Halstead, the junior corpsâ adviser, said the group has already sold several dozen placards.
The group started the sign project in June, she said. It hopes to sell as many placards as possible, she added.
People interested in obtaining a placard with their street number listed on it may do so by stopping by the Sandy Hook Firehouse at 18 Riverside Road on any Monday night after 6:30 pm. They also may order placards by calling the firehouse at 270-4392. The cost of a placard is $15.