It really does save a lot of time and work for us. Justin Geiss
Chardon Fire Department firefighter and paramedic Justin Geiss has seen a number of emergency situations that could have been avoided with inexpensive and easy planning.
For instance, a house is starting to burn at the end of a long driveway. Imagine a crew of firefighters pulling into the driveway, then extending the hose and finding it is too short to reach the burning house from the water source. Valuable minutes are wasted as firefighters in heavy gear jog back to the truck and haul additional thick, canvas hose back down the driveway.
By the time the auxiliary hose is hooked up and shooting water, the building could be fully involved.
“Our hose is only 1,200 feet long. If the driveway is longer than 1,200 feet, we rely on mutual aid to continue laying the second hose,” Geiss said, adding the second team often has to carry their hose from their truck to the end of the connected hose.
A much better firefighting strategy is for the first truck to pull in the driveway to within 1,200 feet of the fire. The mutual aid truck backs into the long driveway a little ways, runs its primary hose down the driveway and connects to the first hose and the water source, he said.
That is where the proactive property owner can help save his or her buildings.
If a 6-inch-by-8-inch, reflective red sign is installed by the driveway 1,200 feet from the structures, the firefighters can stop at the sign and unload their hose, Geiss said. Meanwhile, the mutual aid truck can back into the driveway and firefighters can extend that hose back to the sign where the first hose begins.
The free red signs on metal posts are available at the department to residents in theCity of Chardon, Chardon Township and the northern part of Claridon Township by calling the non-emergency fire station number 440-285-4665 with an address and a contact number, he said.
A resident can determine the length of the driveway using an odometer in his or her vehicle.
“If you start at the road and reset the trip odometer and it measures more than two-tenths of a mile, (1,056 feet) to the house, we will come out,” Geiss said.
Someone from the fire department will install the sign once the call is made to the fire station. The information will be filed with the dispatcher’s office and passed on to firefighters if needed.
Then the emergency dispatch department will be able to tell the fire truck driver on the way to an address that the destination has a long driveway with a marker, he said.
“It really does save a lot of time and work for us,” Geiss said, adding the sign may save a house or outbuilding from total destruction as well.
“It’s easier than trying to guess how long a driveway is,” he said.
Geiss also recommended residents look at clearance on both sides of
the driveway and cut off any thick,
low-hanging branches.
“We need about 11 feet of height for the fire trucks and ambulances,” he said.
If a driveway is especially narrow with sharp turns, trees and brush should be cleared wide enough to accommodate the emergency vehicles.
“If you have a question, call us and we will come out and look. If you have a sharp turn with trees all along it, it can be a problem,” Geiss said.
As brush dies back and leaves fall, it is a good time to take care of this chore or have a tree trimming company do it, he said.
There is a third obstacle to emergency crews saving property or lives — locks.
The emergency team will do everything they can to get to a building or an incapacitated individual, including cutting fences or knocking down a door, he said, but there is an easier way.
Chardon fire department and many others in the area will provide key lock boxes for gates or houses. The key is placed in the box that is put in an agreed-upon location. A key to the box is kept in the fire truck and ambulance in case a call comes in.
“We are the only ones with a key to the box,” Geiss said.
Residents can call the non-emergency fire station number. A $30 refundable deposit is required because that is what the boxes cost the department, he said.
