Decatur reminds property owners to display address numbers

DECATUR - Imagine for a second, a Decatur emergency responder working the night shift. A call for medical assistance comes in from dispatch. The responder races to the location only to find that there are no address numbers on the building. When every second counts, what to do?

This is an all-too-common problem emergency personnel face when responding to a call, especially at night. Precious seconds and even minutes can be lost if the responder has to either call dispatch for location verification or run up and down the street looking for visual confirmation of the address.

A life could be lost, a home destroyed, a business looted all in a matter of minutes or seconds. This could be prevented if the owners had only taken the time to post the address numbers on the location. It takes only a few minutes to complete this task.

According to City of Decatur Ordinance 9.12.06 Signs, numbers and system maintenance, “address numbers shall be a minimum of 3 inches high with black block letters on a white background and shall be visible from the street. Other colors which have sufficient contrast to be read from the street under normal nighttime conditions may be approved by the building inspector. The number shall be placed as near as possible to the primary entrance of the building and preferably above the entrance doorway.”

Both Decatur Fire Chief David Flynt and Decatur Police Chief Terry Luker agree that taking a little time to properly attach and display address numbers will help in identifying locations in an emergency situation. By having address numbers on homes and businesses, a life could be saved, fire damage kept to a minimum, and property remain with the original owner.

News, Pages 12 on 07/24/2013