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House Numbers: How to Make Sure Emergency Personnel Can Find Your Home

by LeAnn R Ralph

© 2007 LeAnn R. Ralph

"You wouldn't believe how many fire numbers and house numbers we can't see from the road," said the ambulance director in my hometown.

I was interviewing him for a story that would be published in the newspaper by which I am employed.

I live in a rural area of Wisconsin, and instead of street numbers, the houses are identified by fire numbers. The addresses are the fire numbers and the particular road on which the house is located.

My address, for example, is E6689 (the fire number) and 970th Ave. (the road). For many years, rural addresses were on rural routes (the farm where I grew up was Rural Route 2).

But nowadays, for the 911 system, rural addresses in this county are identified by the fire number and by the street or avenue.

"Sometimes we have to double back and forth until we find the address," the ambulance director continued.

"There was even one house where you couldn't see the number unless you drove in the driveway and went up by the garage. They had put the number on the side of the house away from the road," he said.

"If there's an emergency," the ambulance director concluded, "you don't want the ambulance or the sheriff's department or the fire department to spend extra time looking for your residence because they can't see the numbers."

Indeed. Delays of 5 or 10 minutes could truly be a matter of life or death.

To ensure that emergency personnel can find your home, consider the following:

• If your fire number is located out by the road, check it regularly to make sure bushes or tree branches are not covering the number. If bushes and tree branches are coming close to your fire number, trim them back or consider moving the fire number to a more visible spot.

• If you have a house number, get in your car and drive past your house. Are the numbers in a position where they can be seen from the road? Are the numbers large enough to be seen from the road? Are the numbers too weathered or faded to be seen from the road? If your house number cannot be easily seen from the road, move it to a better location. If your house number is too small or too weathered to be seen from the road, replace the numbers with new ones.

Following these simple steps will help emergency personnel find your home. If you ever have an emergency, you might be glad you did.

LeAnn R. Ralph is a reporter in Wisconsin. She also is the author of books about growing up on a small family dairy farm 40 years ago. The Midwest Book Review calls this series of books "Highly recommended reading!" You are invited to sign up for the twice-monthly newsletter from Rural Route 2 -- http://ruralroute2.com

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