House numbers critical in emergencies

Van Wert independent/VWFD information

Imagine receiving a 9-1-1 call for someone ill. The caller provides information on the problem and tells the dispatcher the address where the victim is to be found. An Emergency Medical Services (EMS) unit is dispatched to the scene, but no house number can be seen and crews have to estimate the location of the person in need.

Unfortunately, this scenario happens in Van Wert on a regular basis, said Van Wert Fire Chief Jim Steele.

“The Van Wert Fire Department urges all residents to have house numbers on their residences — numbers that are big enough, in colors contrasted to that of the house and placed in such a way they can be read unobstructed from the road,” Chief Steele noted. “This will allow for the quick location of a person in need.”

The fire chief said property owners often take a house number down when painting their residence or when they have siding installed and just forget to put it back up.

He adds, though, that the city has a detailed ordinance on house numbers that was passed in 1997 and requires that an owner, agent, lessee, occupant, or other person having control of a building within the city that has a street number assigned to it, place proper Arabic numbers in a conspicuous place on the front of each dwelling.

Numbers need to be displayed in such a manner that they are at all times legible and visible from the street pavement in front of a dwelling, the fire chief said.

Furthermore, if a house is more than 45 feet away from the front lot line, its house number needs to be conspicuously displayed at or near the walk, driveway or common entrance to the dwelling at street line or on a gate post, fence, mailbox or other appropriate place that will make it legible and visible from either direction on the street.

The front of a dwelling means the side of the dwelling that faces the street. Numbers need to be a minimum of 4 inches in height and in a contrasting color to the surface on which they are placed.

Chief Steele said whether a house has a visible number could be a critical issue when time is of the essence during an emergency. He urged city residents to make sure they have house numbers on their dwellings that can be seen clearly from the street.