Leechburg officials want to make sure all properties in the borough are properly identified to help emergency responders get to the right location.
Fire Chief Tom Foster made a push recently for council to amend and enforce an ordinance requiring all homes and buildings to have their address numbers visible from the street.
“Having addresses on houses certainly would help the fire department, the ambulance service and the police department responding to people’s homes for emergencies,” Foster said.
“I’ve been involved in the fire department for 48 years and also on the board of directors of Lower Kiski Ambulance Service. When someone needs help, we really need them to have numbers on the houses so we can find their house much faster.”
The current ordinance states numbers must be at least 4 inches tall with reflective material and mounted horizontally. Anyone in violation of the ordinance may be fined up to $50 per day until the property owner is in compliance.
Foster said possible ordinance changes include removing the horizontal placement requirement and adjusting the size of the numbers to make it easier for property owners to install them.
“It doesn’t matter as long as the numbers are legible from the street,” the chief said.
The ordinance was passed in May 2013. Any changes will be considered in December for possible passage in January.
Councilwoman Lorrie Bazella said she would support the changes if it helps emergency services.
“If there is an emergency and you don’t have a sign on your house, how are they going to find you?” she said. “This is for public safety. This is something we should all do.”
It is unclear how many properties don’t have street numbers mounted in a place where they can easily be seen.
Borough Secretary Bernice Roberts said the police department might be used to find that out in the coming weeks and could be tasked with enforcing the ordinance once it is updated in January.
“(The ordinance) makes sense,” said resident Larry Boehm, president of the Leechburg Area Museum and Historical Society. Boehm has lived in Leechburg for about 21 years.
He recommended that the borough send out notices about having numbers before sending out officers.
“Let (property owners) know what they need in writing in some form before they actually start checking,” Boehm said. “A lot of people, I think, would just respond on their own without having to send a cop out or everybody out.
“You want the police and the fire and EMS to get here when you call them, so it makes sense.”
Michael DiVittorio is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Michael at 412-871-2367, mdivittorio@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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