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1 <br />March 14, 2013 <br /> <br />Pete Hallenbeck emergency services items- the detailed list <br /> <br />a) Drain pipes under driveways: <br /> Drain pipes should be 16’ wide so that trucks can pull into driveways without <br />getting “hung up” with a wheel in a ditch. Note that in addition to avoiding a catastrophic <br />problem with the entranced to a residence blocked, this change also improves response <br />time by a few seconds and avoids having the responding unit have to get way over into <br />the opposing lane going very slowly in order to insure it can cross the drain pipe, <br />making every day operations safer for all. <br /> <br />b) Cull-du-Sac diameters: <br /> Some of the larger apparatus that responds to rural areas can be as long as 35 <br />feet. With private roads, cull-du-sacs tend to slowly loose diameter as vegetation grows <br />in. When bring water in for a house fire, often the only means for turning tankers <br />around is to continue down to the end of a private road and use the cull-du-sac. <br /> A minimum cleared diameter of 50 feet for new developments would insure that <br />the fire service would operate at peak efficiency. <br /> <br />c) Pull-over areas on 1 lane private roads: <br /> When a house is on fire, water often has to be brought in with tankers. These <br />tankers go back and forth from a water point to the house that is on fire. If there is a <br />long one lane road, tankers have to wait at the end of the road until there are no other <br />vehicles on the road. An ordinance requiring a 50 foot long pull-over area of at least 22 <br />feet every 500 feet would insure that fire suppression operations could occur with best <br />efficiency. Note also that such a pull over would be of benefit to the residents on the <br />private road. <br /> <br />d) Tree Clearance on Driveways: <br /> Emergency apparatus is a tight fit with a 10’ wide bay door. Heights for some <br />department can be as much as 12 feet tall. Tree branches can droop when wet or when <br />they have snow on them. An ordinance requiring a 14’ wide by 14’ tall clearance for <br />driveways would insure that apparatus could negotiate the driveway with modest turns <br />in it. If the ordinance would also read with something along the lines of “...and must be <br />able to pass a vehicle 35’ in length” that would be good too. Note that this would also <br />be beneficial for the residents for both UPS delivery trucks and other vehicles such as <br />gravel trucks or grading equipment trucks. <br /> In California, there are rules that require an area sufficient to turn a fire truck <br />around for each house. I think the cull-du-sac, pull-over requirements and this driveway <br />clearance requirements are sufficient for our area (we are not prone to the wildfire <br />situations that California has). <br />6