As spring approaches thoughts turn to cleaning up our yards from the long winter months, making repairs around the home, and enjoying the outdoors. Keeping a few safety thoughts in mind will help make your spring experience more enjoyable.
Eastside Fire and Rescue offers the following tips to ensure your home is made safer as well as spic and span this spring.
Visible home addressing
Can emergency personnel find your home in the dark of the night? Is your driveway clearly marked? If you are like many people in rural King County, your address may be on a group mailbox, but your driveway may not have any address marking. This can cause a delay when emergency responders are trying to locate your home. Properly posting your address sign will help responders locate your home more quickly when minutes count during an emergency situation.
Keeping the hydrant visible
Are hanging tree branches and shrubs blocking the view of the hydrant in front from your home? Fire hydrants are a critical element in providing fire protection to a community. It is important for emergency responders to be able to see the hydrant easily from the street. Eastside Fire & Rescue requires a three-foot clear space be maintained around the circumference of the fire hydrant. Do not customize the fire hydrant in your lawn. Fire personnel need working space around the hydrant.
Road access
In an emergency, a few minutes or even seconds can make a difference to your safety. Can fire equipment such as an engine or aid car access your road or driveway to your home? Parked cars blocking driveways, large trees, shrubs and other vegetation hampering access needs to be maintained. Road widths cannot be less than 20 feet, and vertical clearance not less than 13 feet, six inches.
Put yourself in the place of an emergency responder and safely step out onto the curb in front of your home. Is your address marked and clearly visible? If not, it may affect the time it takes for emergency personnel to locate your home in the event of an emergency situation. This spring clean-up should include a safety minded approach by checking the visibility of your home address.
• Learn more about safety at eastsidefire-rescue.org.
