Hurricane shutters are designed to protect people during hurricanes, but a local fire chief said the shutters could hurt people in a different type of emergency.
That fire chief said hurricane shutters should be illegal most of the time, unless a hurricane strike is imminent, WESH 2 News reported.
Brevard County's fire chief said hurricane shutters locked in place permanently or for months at a time could be dangerous. In case of fire, the shutters make it harder for firefighters to get in.
At a fire in Indian Harbour Beach last month, shutters made firefighters' jobs harder.
"More and more hurricane-impact windows are being installed in homes, and they are a little bit more challenging. They're designed not to be broken by a 2 x 4 in a hurricane, and certainly, a firefighters' axe is not going to make much of a dent either," said Donald Hughes of the Satellite Beach Fire Department.
Brevard County's fire chief said the county needs a law making it illegal to deploy hurricane shutters unless a hurricane is within 48 to 72 hours of landfall.
The shutters not only make it hard for firefighters to get in, they could make it impossible for occupants to get out, especially if they are electrically activated and the fire knocks the power out.
Nevertheless, more and more homes and condos are fully sealed up all the time, sometimes to keep burglars out and sometimes for other reasons.
"I do that to keep the heat from hitting glass, typically in the daytime so it will cool the house," said homeowner Anthony Perry.
Don John sells and installs hurricane shutters.
"How to tell somebody that they can't roll the shutter down when they go out of town or at nighttime when they want security is going to be tough," John said.
The fire chief said the no-shutter law should have an exception for snowbirds, as long as they certify to a fire department or association that no one is living there.
The Brevard County Commission will likely be voting on the no-shutter proposal within the next few weeks.
The city of Rockledge already has a similar law in place.
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