Montgomery County fire chiefs say new streets are not wide enough for emergency vehicles
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- Several fire chiefs in Montgomery County are urging county leaders to make changes to how new streets are designed.
They say the current streets are not wide enough and are causing slower response times during emergencies.
"The fire truck is literally having to go through the yard to make it through the structure fire," one Montgomery County fire official said.
That video was part of a presentation the Montgomery County Fire Chiefs Association made to the county commissioners this week.
"Do we have delays now? Yes, there are delays," another Montgomery County fire official said.
What's behind those delays? Jason Oliphant is the fire chief of Montgomery County ESD-1 and part of the association.
He says it has to do with how narrow the subdivision streets are, which currently at minimum have to be 22 feet wide.
"People park on both sides, and it's literally a law enforcement patrol car couldn't get it in between them," Oliphant said.
He says fire crews are experiencing slower response times.
"We want to try to get everything with no more than five minutes. There was a recent tornado in the eastern part of the county and when the people were trying to come out and the fire trucks were trying to come in, on these narrow streets that doesn't work," Oliphant said.
There was a recent proposal to increase the width to 25 feet, but he and other county fire department leaders don't feel that's enough. That's why they brought up their concerns to the county commissioners.
"Our recommendation is that any curved and guttered street. We're asking that new developments be at 28 feet," he said.
ABC13 spoke to a Montgomery County commissioner who agrees change needs to be made.
"The old development regulations, which I believe were back from the 1980s, had a regulation in there of 22-foot-wide streets and what we're trying to do now is update those based on current conditions," Ritch Wheeler, Montgomery County Commissioner with Precinct 3, said.
Right now, the county commissioners are taking comments from the public, and the court is expected to vote on a change within the next month.
"The rules are definitely going to change. We are definitely going to create new updated regulations for the county. Not just for the width of the streets but several factors when it comes to development," Wheeler said.
