HANCEVILLE – As reported from the June 23 Hanceville City Council meeting, Hanceville Fire Chief Rodger Green’s department had difficulty locating a home whose address was located in an area of Hanceville notorious for inaccurate house numbers. The medical call was delayed by several minutes due to the home being associated with the wrong block number.
At the meeting, Hanceville Mayor Kenneth Nail observed, “Some of the addresses in this town is a screwed up mess. You got 300 numbers in 400s block and the fire department run around for several minutes trying to find it and come to find out this home numbered 300 was in the 400 block was nowhere it should be. We just don’t want that to happen again. One thing that would be very helpful is if folks would put their address on their house.”
Currently in the midst of a fundraising event that provides a simple solution to the problem is Hanceville Fire and Rescue, who say if their crews are unable to clearly see an address from the street, especially at nighttime, their response times can be delayed, which could cause a life or death situation.
In response, reflective 9-1-1 signs are being sold for the price of $20 each. The 6-in. x 18-in. aluminum signs display 4-in. vinyl house numbers on both sides and are covered with reflective vinyl, making them easy to spot in the dark, thus possibly circumventing the delayed call times.
Noting that fires with large smoke plumes may be easy to find, the department says locating an address can be far different than the directions often given to a home or business without the proper and legible signage. The blue and white signs offered to the residents of Hanceville make medical emergency calls or small house fires easy to locate.
Green shared, “We’re selling the 9-1-1 address signs over there at the fire department if anyone wants to buy one. They’re for sale for a fundraiser for the fire and rescue volunteers and we come out and put them up. They help a lot with fire departments and ambulances.”
The mayor noted that the 9-1-1 director is scheduled to visit Hanceville to look into a solution for the specified area. While the mayor recognized that changing addresses makes for tedious work for the homeowner, it may be a necessity to prevent future delayed responses from emergency personnel.
To order your sign, call the Chief Green at 256-352-5544 or Tina Alexander at 256-338-4821 or visit the fire department 119 Collins Street in Hanceville.
