Bad parking ‘risks lives’
FIRE SERVICE HIGHLIGHTS PROBLEMS
A FIREFIGHTER has warned that bad parking could cost lives.
Joe Rollestone, a firefighter for six years, said at the beginning of last month he was involved in an incident where two appliances were called to a report of a house fire.
Their response was delayed by five minutes because parked cars prevented them from getting past.
“We were stuck in Vulcan Road in Spinney Hills,” he said.
“We were going to Hartington Road, to a report of a house fire.
“Luckily, it wasn’t a huge fire. Someone had discarded something into a bin which had caught fire.”
He said the firefighters did not know that at the time.
Joe said having to wait in situations like this caused frustration and extra pressure.
“The officer in charge had to get out and run down the street to the property,” he said.
“If it had been a working job then the pressure on him to do something would put him in a situation he didn’t want to be in. We might not have been able to get through and would have had to have asked for another station to come.
“It’s very frustrating. There are already 101 things that are going through your head. It costs time and causes pressure that we could do without.
“It could cost lives.” He said bad parking has become “more pertinent” in recent times because of the lockdown.
Because people are spending more time at home there can be more cars parked poorly on residential roads.
He said problems are most acute in Spinney Hills, Highfields and Northfields, where there are many streets with terraced houses.
The fire service has created a short video, directed by Caroline Bartleet, to highlight the problem and urge people to think before they park.
Watch it at: