How frustrating! I can't imagine where you even found brackets that were 5ft deep by 2ft high. I'm not surprised tho that they have metal inside since they were probably made to be true structural supports instead of merely decorative. Since that roof section seems to be staying in place just fine without bracket support, it looks like your brackets just need decorative. If so, you don't need any metal inside. I know you already paid for those brackets and I'm sure they weren't cheap. But, since you want your shutters to be operable, the only other option is to get/make brackets that will fit into the space you have available and that CAN be done. You just need to find someone with the skill to duplicate the style in wood but make it thinner. Are the brackets fairly simple in design or very complex (lots of scroll work)? Obviously, the more complex they are, the more it will cost you to get thinner duplicates made - but a really good millwork shop can duplicate just about anything. I've linked to one place in California that I'm pretty sure could make you whatever you want. Here is a link that might be useful: Blue Ox Millworks

This is a rather old thread but I wish to make a comment anyway since every time I search for fire safety-dogs, it comes up as one of the few resources. Also this thread catapulted me into finding a solution! This is it and I couldn't be more excited to have found it!Someone above mentioned a harness made for letting rescue dogs down from a helicopter into an emergency zone. That looked great until I found the following, which is less than half the price at $70. https://www.x-itproducts.com/how-it-works-large-pet-escape-sling/ At this time it's not offered on Amazon so you have to go directly to the X-It website to order. Ours arrived today. My husband and I tested it out a bit. Okay, we didn't throw our dog out the window however easily got our 80 lb. Golden into the sling/harness very very quickly without any struggle from him (and he's a guy who snaps at being brushed - gently). It's just so easy to get the sling on - slip paws into the large holes, pull up and cinch the velcro at the neck. Next we picked him up using the handles - no problem - and again, not an ounce of struggle. He was obviously well supported and comfortable, even off the floor! We were very happy to discover the sling comes with an attached nylon webbing strap that was way longer than it would take to get him down from our 2nd story bedroom. (It's made for a 4 story building.) Best of all, the "strap" has handle loops every so often taking away the danger of it slipping through your hands while letting your dog down. We're seniors yet I feel confident we can do this if necessary! Of course using this is a last resort and it clearly states that in the instructions. But we feel so much better having a 2nd way out of our 2nd story bedroom for our dog, as well as ourselves (via ladder). We're so grateful someone finally thought of large dogs. Thank you X-It!!! We'll be spreading the word to everyone we know who has dogs. And no, we're not paid by the company, nor have we received any free products! We're simply happy to have finally found this solution. But I agree with some of the above comments, the next house we buy will be one story. Until then, we have a plan.

Not finished yet, but have a pic for you where we're at. One thing I really like is the layout my husband did laying two pieces of the decking in the center perpendicular to the house & using 12' decking from center both directions. Eliminated seams. Our deck is pretty basic, pt rectangular ~10' x 24'. We'll have black aluminum railings. We'll be adding steps at the top right of the photo shown that goes to existing concrete steps on that hill. Later, we plan to add a patio or 2nd deck behind the garage for a grill area (top of photo) and a 2nd set of steps directly down to ground level (at opposite end of deck).

You will need permits and this being a utility company easement I can't see them letting you put anything like this on the easement as you will while not completely but definitely block the easement.