WHEREAS, the Tenleytown Fire House, which houses Engine 20, Truck 12, and Ambulance 20, is located at 4300 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W., on the border of ANC 3F and ANC 3E; and

WHEREAS, Engine 20, Truck 12, and Ambulance 20 provide 24-hour fire and medical emergency services to residents of Ward 3, including the residents of ANC 3F; and

WHEREAS, these services include, but are not limited to, responding to fires, traffic accidents, medical emergencies, downed wires, odors, and water leaks, for an average of 350 to 400 responses per month; and

WHEREAS, Wisconsin Avenue is a heavily-traveled 6-lane major arterial, with an average weekday traffic volume in 1999 of 30,800 vehicles per 24-hour period at a point two blocks south of the Tenleytown Fire House, and with a count in January 2000 of 18,086 vehicles during a 10-hour period at the intersection of Wisconsin Avenue and Warren Street, N.W., the intersection adjacent to the Tenleytown Fire House; and

WHEREAS, many pedestrians use the sidewalk in front of the Tenleytown Fire House, on their way to stores, offices, residences, schools, churches, buses, and the Tenleytown Metro Station nearby; and

WHEREAS, the only means available to stop vehicles and pedestrians when fire and emergency apparatus must leave the fire house to respond to a call is to turn on the siren of the apparatus, blow the horn, and nose out slowly onto the sidewalk and into the lanes of traffic, a process which causes some delay in response time and carries the risk that some vehicles will not see the apparatus, will keep on moving, and will collide with the apparatus or other vehicles; and

WHEREAS, the only means to stop vehicles and pedestrians when returning from a call and reentering the fire house is for personnel to alight from the apparatus, walk into the lanes of traffic, and use their hands to direct vehicles and pedestrians to stop, a method which is dangerous to the personnel directing traffic and often proves ineffective, as drivers have been known to drive onto the sidewalk or into the lanes of opposing traffic to avoid stopping,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT ANC 3F requests that the District of Columbia install a traffic light at the Tenleytown Fire House that can be activated when responding to or returning from a call, (1) for improved response time to emergencies, (2) for the safety of fire and emergency personnel, and (3) for the safety of persons driving and walking past the fire house.
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Approved by a vote of 6-0-0 at a duly noticed meeting on May 21, 2001 with a quorum present.

/s/ David J. Bardin                                            /s/ Robert V. Maudlin
Chair                                                                       Secretary