Response line: Which pools need fences?
Published 10:36 p.m. Sunday, September 21, 2025
ASK: Are swimming pools in the ground or above the ground to be fenced?
ANSWER: Yes they are.
Michael Shirley, the director of Longview's development services, explained to me that this requirement has been available since the 1950s, and there is no grandfather.
However, your backyard fence counts when you have one.
If you don't have a separate fence around the pool, this can trigger other security requirements, e.g.
Shirley also pointed me to part of the state law that regulates pools, which defines a pool as a “a permanent swimming pool, a permanent wad or reflection pool or a permanent whirlpool or a spa over 18 inches deep, above the floor, under the floor or interior”.
Discussion of Feuer apparatus: The LongView city council is discussed during its meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in the town hall 300 W. Cotton St.
I wanted to give you some information that our new fire chief Greg Grimes shared before this conversation with the city council. He said before his arrival, the former boss JP Steelman had appointed a committee for fire and fleet services employees to develop designs for future fire brigade devices that looked at factors such as efficiency and cost efficiency. They were also commissioned to consider long -term sustainability and the future of the fleet replacement.
“The committee, who had been avoiding the apparatus for two years, found that Longview Firee five (5) engines and a (1) conductor truck would rise again by replacement plan,” wrote Grimes. “Currently, five (5) reserve devices are overdue for the office of service, and five (5) front line apparatus are replaced. Two of the spare parts are overdue one to three years to transfer the transition to reserve status (ie uses, ie, used if the front systems are invited or repaired in the front facility). The five (5).
According to Grimes, the National Fire Protection Association recommends “15 years in the front line” services, with vehicles possibly moving the status “reserve” and retired for around 25 years.
Grimes's information from the city council indicates that there will be a discussion about how the department works to reduce the wear activity caused by the high call volume of the city and the effect on the lifespan of the fire apparatus.
– The response line appears on Wednesday and in the weekend edition. E-mail to be answeringlline@news-journal.com, leave a message under (903) 232-7208 or write to PO Box 1792, Longview, TX 75606.