Bad parking in Cranbrook delays fire engines
Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service is asking residents of Cranbrook to be considerate when parking outside their homes.
The Service is becoming increasingly concerned that fire crews could be seriously delayed getting to an emergency incident because of inconsiderate parking.
Roads on which the fire service are experiencing problems include:
- Seven Acres
- Alma Villa Rise
- The end of Barn Orchard
- Yarlington Mill
- Post Coach Way (between Brooks Warren and the country park)
- Mead Cross
- The area known as Avocet Meadow
It is an offence to obstruct emergency vehicles and fire crews are legally permitted to forcibly remove vehicles causing an obstruction with urgency, proportionate to the seriousness of the emergency they are attending.
Station Manager Nigel Deasy said: “We have noticed that an increasing number of homeowners want to park their vehicles directly outside their properties without considering that access may be required for fire appliances in an emergency.
“Some of the streets are narrow even without parked cars. Obviously, the size of our vehicle being what it is, we need slightly more room to manoeuvre than a car.”
The Service is asking people when parking their vehicle to:
- Park close to the kerb
- Leave enough space for a fire engine or an ambulance to pass
- Leave extra room near tight corners
- Fold in your wing mirror
Station Manager Deasy added: “It is an on-going problem which occurs all over the Service area and there have been occasions when bad parking has delayed fire engines from reaching serious incidents.
“Every second counts when the emergency services are responding to an incident. When people are parking outside their home we would ask them to consider whether a fire engine or ambulance would be able to get to their house in an emergency?”
