WISE COUNTY, Va. (WJHL) — Grant funding is headed to the Wise County area for the improvement of numerical house address signs in remote areas, in order to ease first responder navigation and emergency response times.
A release from the Wise County Board of Supervisors said the “Firewise Community Hazard Mitigation Grant” funding will go to the county’s Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Office, which will work to help first responders navigate rural and wooded residential areas quicker and more efficiently during emergencies.
The funding totals $10,000 and comes from the Firewise grant program, operated by the Virginia Department of Forestry. The release states the funding aims to “help at-risk communities reduce or mitigate potential threats from wildfire.”
The Wise County GIS Office said navigating woodland and remote residential areas can be challenging for first responders and creating clear and visible signage directing to numerical addresses will help officials lower their response time in the case of an emergency.
The release said the funding will be directly used to purchase and install signage and plaques that comply with local addressing standards.
The Wise County GIS Office said any county resident who believes they’re in need of proper address signage in their area can fill out a form which will be submitted to leaders of this initiative. The guidelines for eligibility and where to direct questions can be found below:
To be eligible for this program, a resident must have an addressable structure that is in a rural or forested area and that is currently without posted numerical address signage. Residents interested in receiving numerical address signage are encouraged to fill out the form linked here and in the provided QR code below or to contact the Wise County GIS Office directly by phone at 276-328-7110 or email at bloomer_g@wisecounty.org.
Wise County GIS Office
