Scott CountyFire DepartmentBack to SCFD Emergency? Call 911 and give the dispatcher your exact address and location details.
Call 911Seconds matter before we reach the door
Make your address
impossible to miss.
Firefighters, EMS crews, and law enforcement cannot help until they find you. A clearly marked address helps responders identify the right driveway or building—especially at night, in bad weather, or when smoke and traffic make visibility difficult.
Can we find you?
Your address is part of your emergency plan.
Responders may be searching from a moving apparatus while managing radio traffic, watching for hazards, and looking for people directing them. Small numbers, poor contrast, or an address hidden by landscaping can cost valuable time.
Do not rely only on numbers painted on a curb, a name on a mailbox, GPS location, or a porch number that can only be seen after turning into the driveway.
A quick property check
Six ways to make your home easier to find.
Walk to the road and look back at your property during the day and after dark. If you have to search for the number, an emergency responder will too.
Visible from the road
Stand where an approaching responder would be and confirm every digit can be read without entering the driveway.
Large and easy to read
Use simple block-style numbers. Avoid decorative scripts, thin lettering, and numbers that blend together.
Strong contrast
Light numbers need a dark background; dark numbers need a light background. Reflective materials are especially helpful at night.
Clear in both directions
If your mailbox or post sits parallel to the road, place the address where traffic approaching from either direction can see it.
Free of obstructions
Trim vegetation and make sure decorations, snow, parked vehicles, open gates, or seasonal growth do not hide the address.
Repeated at long driveways
When the home cannot be seen from the roadway, mark the driveway entrance and display the address again on the home.
Contrast makes the difference
Readable beats decorative.
Choose a simple number style with a background that clearly separates the digits from the house, mailbox, or post. Reflective numbers or a well-maintained light improve nighttime visibility, but the address should still be readable when the power is out.
Long driveways & rural properties
Mark the turn before the house.
Place a durable address marker at the road where the driveway begins. If multiple homes share an entrance, use additional directional markers at each split so responders can follow the correct route without stopping to search.
- Keep the marker on the same side of the road as the driveway entrance.
- Make sure it is visible from both approaches.
- Repeat the number on the residence or main building.
- Recheck visibility after vegetation grows or snow accumulates.
Take five minutes today
Go outside and check your address from the road.
Check it once in daylight and once after dark. Ask someone who does not visit often whether they can spot it quickly. Replace faded, damaged, missing, or obstructed numbers before an emergency happens.
Questions? Call SCFD