Timmins Police Services this week unleashed four Youth in Policing summer students to educate property owners about the importance of clearly displaying their house numbers so that emergency responders including police, fire and ambulance workers can quickly identify an address and help save lives.
“In an emergency, those few seconds it takes to locate a house number can be the difference between a good outcome and a bad one,” said Kate Cantin, Timmins Police Services Corporate Communications Coordinator.
Although Cantin could not point to a specific incident where a missing or obscured house number negatively impacted an emergency response, she did say that numerous complaints have been expressed by police officers, firefighters and ambulance teams concerning missing or hidden house numbers.
"For this reason they must have their house number clearly affixed to their house," said Cantin.
“This initiative is being launched as an education measure to remind homeowners that we need them to help us help them so if there is any emergency we know where to find them,” added Cantin. “It is a simple message but it is an important one.”
The Youth in Policing team will walk through neighbourhoods in Timmins and residences that don’t have proper numbering will receive a pamphlet titled “123 – If you need help...We need it spelled out.”
The pamphlet reminds property owners that City of Timmins By-Law No 2005-6095 requires that house numbers must:
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Be located at the front of the building at the main entrance or over the garage door
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Not be displayed higher than the first storey of any building
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Be legible, on a contrasting background with contrasting numbers, with the numbers having a minimum height of 10 cm. (4 inches)
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Where the main building is obscured from the roadway, number must be placed on a contrasting plate attached to a post at a height of an at least 1.5 metres above the ground at the property line.
The pamphlet encourages homeowners to “Help us to help you...Display house numbers clearly.”
The by-law also requires that the numbers be visible from the roadway at all times and the owner is responsible for making sure it is not obscured by vegetation, snow or other objects.
The current TPS initiative is informational with the aim of motivating homeowners to make the necessary changes to improve the visibility of their house number.
The city’s by-law gives the City of Timmins the right to install a proper sign without notice to the home owner and recover the cost from the home owner. Typical cost for installing a number is $30 which will be added to property taxes.
The by-law also contains a provision for fining a homeowner who does not comply with proper house numbering a fine of up to $5,000 upon conviction.
(PHOTO: Kate Cantin (right), Timmins Police corporate communications coordinator, and the team of Youth in Policing students investigating house numbers in downtown Timmins. Frank Giorno for TimminsToday)
