Reflective Address Sign Program for Fitch Mountain residents

• Download a request form

Neighborhood Reflective Signs

WHERE TO PLACE SIGNS

1. Drive to your home after dark. Determine if your address would be IMMEDIATELY identifiable to an emergency responder approaching for the first time ... on a dark and stormy night perhaps ...
2. If your mail box is not directly in front of your house, you should have a sign on the mail box and one at the entrance to your driveway or on any locked gate.
3. If the house numbers on your street or road are not sequential, it is especially important that each house is clearly marked.
4. If you live on a street or road that might have a responder coming from either of two directions (e.g. Fitch Mountain Road), you should have a two-sided sign on your mail box.
5. If your mail box is one of a group of boxes, is it clear in which direction to go to get to your house? You may need an arrow or additional address marker in addition to a marker at your driveway.
6. If your property has several buildings or multiple dwellings, each entrance door should have a house marker sign next to it.
7. In most cases it is an additional safety factor to have a house marker sign directly on your house in a location that is visible from the street or road and that would not be hidden by landscaping.
8. You don't have to remove any current signs that you really like, but we hope that you see the desirability of uniform signage that all responders will be looking for.
9. If you're not sure where a sign should be placed, contact us and we'll send a consultant to your residence. If you need assistance with the installation of your sign, contact us to coordinate.

Our Goal: "That every neighborhood on the mountain and in the town shares the green flow of safety signs.

There’s Safety in Numbers

FireFreeFitch, the grass roots movement created in 2008 to organize Fitch Mountain neighborhoods into fire defensible zones, launched an ambitious new project. After talking with the major emergency responder organizations in Sonoma County, FireFreeFitch became aware of a serious common problem that all the responders face. It is the difficulty of locating the people in need as quickly as possible. All responders are dealing with the widespread lack of adequate house number signage.

Here are statements gathered from emergency responders:

“As a veteran firefighter, I can tell you from experience how frustrating it can be to respond to a ‘baby not breathing’ call and not be able to find the location! An accurate and easily visible address is vital for rapidly locating a home or business in any emergency requiring law enforcement, fire or ambulance services.”
Sonoma County Department of Emergency Services Assistant Chief Fire Marshall, Roberta MacIntyre

“From the time 911 is called a clock begins to tick that can determine the outcome of many patients. The sooner we arrive, often the better the outcome. Arriving in a timely manner can be affected by difficulty in locating homes. This is even more exaggerated in areas where there are narrow, unmarked or difficult to find streets and/or addresses.”
Bell’s Ambulance Service, Pamela Bell Simmons

“During an ‘in progress’ crime or emergency one of the most frustrating experiences for a Deputy Sheriff can be not being able to find the people he needs to help. Many people have no idea how difficult it can be to find a residence when it is not clearly marked, in the dark, in the rain, on a winding road.”
Special Services, Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department Captain, Matt McCaffrey

“One of the biggest challenges faced by fire personnel is inadequately addressed homes, particularly in rural areas. Of particular concern are medical calls that occur at nighttime when lighting is compromised and the address numbers cannot be seen from the road serving the property.”
Former Healdsburg Fire Department Chief, Randy Collins

“As a police department, we are often faced with responding to emergency calls where time is of the essence. Officers responding to calls depend on well marked numbers that are not covered by landscaping or other visual obstructions.”
Healdsburg Police Department Sergeant, Matt Jenkins

“The CHP regularly responds to residences to notify citizens of emergencies, to conduct follow up on investigations, and to respond to traffic complaints. In addition, the CHP is utilized to inform residents of evacuations, emergencies in the area, and provide traffic control for those entering and exiting. To coordinate with deputies and other officers, an exact location by way of a verifiable street address is crucial.”
California Highway Patrol Officer, Jonathan Sloat

FireFreeFitch is sponsoring a Reflective Address Sign Program.

Available to Healdsburg at cost and at no profit.

When emergency responders respond to an emergency, it can be quite difficult to find your exact location if your house number is not clearly marked, especially at night, and in rural areas common to Sonoma County. An accurate and easily visible address is vital for rapidly locating a home or business in any emergency requiring law enforcement, fire or ambulance services.

All signs are made of 100% aluminum .063 gauge and laminated with Avery reflective vinyl; the numbers are also Avery reflective vinyl. The sign color is green with white numbers. You can select a Vertical or Horizontal Address Marker that is 6“ x 18” in size (single sided or double sided available) and/or a House Marker that is 5” x 14” in size.

The cost of each single or double-sided Vertical or Horizontal Address Marker is $12.00; the cost for each House Marker is $5.00, and L-Bracket Packages are $1.50.

We will complete your sign, and deliver it to your home!

The long term goal of this project is for every neighborhood in town, on the mountain and in county areas to work together to remove this particularly frustrating problem that all our emergency responders are currently facing. When every area uniformly displays green reflective signs, there will indeed be increased safety for us all.

Please join us in this project!

Download an application and send it to us with your check.