Fort Resolution (Mar 31/03) - When RCMP Corp. Sylvain Lemoyne arrived in Fort Resolution last summer, he immediately noticed something.

"The first thing I was struck with was there are no house numbers here," Lemoyne recalls.

Corp. Sylvain Lemoyne displays the map of Fort Resolution he created. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

That complicates a Mountie's life in a new community. Lemoyne says he occasionally has trouble finding the right house when answering a call, meaning perhaps an extra five minutes to get on scene.

Such a delay is a matter of public safety, he says.

Recently, he even had to seek the public's help locating a house. "I had to stop someone in the road."

So Lemoyne took on the problem himself, and has created a map identifying houses with a logical numbering system.

Previously, the three-member RCMP detachment used a map which divided the community into blocks and numbered each house in a block. However, Lemoyne says, that map is old and difficult to follow, and it is only used by the RCMP.

"The person calling doesn't know that address."

The corporal took on the project despite having no experience as a map maker.

On Lemoyne's map, the names of streets running east-west are odd numbers, beginning with 100.

Streets running north-south have even numbers for names, beginning with 200.

Looking at the first digit of each house number, the RCMP will know immediately which street a house is on, and the address is unique.

"There's only one house with that number," Lemoyne explains.

The plan is for Deninoo Community Council to place numbers on each house by this summer, so residents will become familiar with their house numbers.

Lorne Antle, the community's senior administrative officer, says the council and Deninu Ku'e First Nation supported the map-making initiative. For example, the band drew up an alphabetical list of residents with the new house numbers next to names.

Antle says the new numbering system will help provide municipal services, including emergency services, through ease in locating houses.

"It's all broken down into a logical pattern, and that pattern is the key," he says.

The new system may help the community's computerized water delivery system, fuel oil delivery and tourists.

Despite his concern for safety, Lemoyne says, there were no major incidents in the past which could have been prevented by better numbering of houses.