If you have an emergency and call 911, the skill and rapid deployment of our first responders will mean little if they can’t locate your home.
Dave Bailin, Gardiner Fire Chief, gave this example when asked to illustrate the difficulty of finding some homes in their response area:
“There was a Rescue Squad call-out on one road. No mail box. The house numbers jumped on either side of the road. And it took us a little while to find, because the homeowner didn’t come outside to say, ‘Hey, here I am.’ No lights on. This was in the middle of the night and it was a difficulty breathing call.”
And that was just one of several examples. The Gardiner Fire Department celebrates its 100th anniversary this year and, as a fundraiser for these festivities, the Fire Department and Rescue Squad are selling and installing reflective house numbers. These signs have a green background and large white numbers—both highly reflective to insure immediate visibility, especially at night. All the signs will be made by Gardiner Fire and Rescue personnel and will be sold for $15 if homeowner installed, or $20 if mounted by Gardiner Fire Department volunteers. Signs can be made with either a horizontal or vertical orientation.
Homeowner installed signs will be accompanied by installation instructions and suggestions for where best to place the sign for maximum visibility. Signs will be mailed or delivered to your home. Order forms are available at the Gardiner Library, Ireland Corners General Store and other places in town as well as from Fire Department personnel. You may also order by emailing gfd2012committee@yahoo.com. (Questions may also be sent to that email address.)
Completed order forms, accompanied by a check payable to Gardiner Fire Department, should be mailed to the 2012 Committee, Gardiner Fire Department, Post Office Box 271, Gardiner, NY 12525-0271. Chief Bailin summed up, “It’s more a way of helping ourselves while helping the town when time is extremely important.”