Like many rural fire departments, one of the challenges that we face is finding the location of the people that we are trying to help. On a dark and rainy night a visible address sign where the driveway meets the road can make a big difference. You can imagine the difficulties that we encounter when we start down an unmarked driveway, then have to turn around when we realize that it’s not the correct location. This can cost valuable time when getting there as quickly as possible is of huge importance.
In January we did 14 calls and at least three of them were slightly delayed because of lack of address signage. Fortunately, the delays did not affect the outcome but we have been to calls where a similar delay would have had a big impact.
As far as signage goes, anything is better than nothing, but something visible at night can make a difference. Light coloured numbers on a dark background or reflective signs like those in the photo make our jobs so much easier. If you are land partners or have several houses on your property, then signage identifying each of the buildings helps us from taking the wrong fork in the road.
If you would like to order a reflective number sign please call the fire hall at 250.335.2611 and leave a message. Someone will get back to you. Clearly identifying your house reduces the stress for us in trying to get to the right location and increases the odds for a good outcome by getting us there more quickly.