Assuring Adequate Fire Truck Driveway Clearance
Not many homeowners often consider the idea of making a driveway accessible to Fire, Rescue and EMS vehicles. However when an emergency strikes, quickly getting a truck close to a home is CRITICAL. Below are steps you can follow to assuring we can get to you in your time of need.
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WIDTH: We need a BARE MINIMUM of 12 feet of driveway width. Consider removing trees close to the driveway, especially on tight turns (we have a large turn radius). Consider the width of any culvert or bridge over your driveway. Not only do we have to get trucks up your driveway, we also need to run hose up your driveway and have enough room to work around our truck.
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HEIGHT: Fire Code calls for a clear height of 13 feet 6 inches. Anything lower than this can tear antennas that are critical to radio traffic off the truck or prevent us from getting back to you at all!
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WEIGHT: Our trucks weigh upwards of 25 tons (50,000lbs). Please assure that your driveway has a surface that can support that weight, that bridges and culverts are strong enough to not collapse. If we think a bridge or culvert will not support our weight, we will not cross it and will have to hand stretch all the hose to your house.
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GRADE: 12%-14% is about the maximum grade a fire truck can manage.
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​ROADWAY ENTRY: The entry to your driveway from the road should be as close to 90 degrees as possible and have turnouts on both ends wide enough, usually around 20 feet, to let a long truck with a large turn radius swing into your driveway. Gates should be far enough back as to not obstruct our turn into your driveway and should allow us emergency access to your residence.
If you have any other questions or would like us to evaluate your driveway and provide recommendations, please don't hesitate to call us at (614)837-5530.
Remeber time is critical. A fire doubles in size every 30 seconds. If we cannot get close to your structure we have to stretch hose by hand which eats up valuable seconds
