By Justin Creech
Staff Writer
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Fire and Emergency Services as well as Directorate of Emergency Services are concerned with the way residents are parking their cars in residential areas.
Residents are parking on both sides of the streets which leaves emergency services personnel little room to maneuver their vehicles through the neighborhoods.
“The roads in the housing developments are only 24-26 feet wide,” said FES Fire Marshall, John Weaver. “That seems like a lot of room, but it’s really not.”
Weaver said emergency personnel are forced to find different areas to park in or near the residential areas due to the lack of space.
“We have had to park in alleyways because sometimes we can’t get the engine doors open,” said Weaver.
He said the problem isn’t just in residential areas, though.
Parking near office buildings has become troublesome as folks park as close to the buildings as they can which, again, limits the amount of space for emergency vehicles to operate.
“They don’t think about how parking effects rescue vehicles,” said Weaver. “A few weeks ago one of our trucks scrapped the front bumper of a car because it didn’t have enough room to turn.”
Damage to residents’ vehicles can come from other residents as well, not just emergency vehicles.
Sgt. 1st Class, Karl House, 212th Military Police Detachment said parking on both sides of the street leaves cars vulnerable to hit and run incidents.
“For the people that live in the neighborhood, if it’s too tight of a fit then they risk having their vehicles damaged because there isn’t enough room to get by,” said House. “We get a few of those a week.”
In the event of a hit and run a complete police report will be done and residents are still able to file an insurance claim.
However, if a vehicle or vehicles are parked in a way that is impeding traffic in the community it is possible that both will be towed.
“If a vehicle is parked adjacent to the yellow curb we will write them a ticket,” said DES Deputy Director, Frank Hentschel. “But, we will leave the vehicle there if emergency vehicle can still get through. We will only tow the vehicle if it’s absolutely necessary.”
Weaver said FES is going to start a campaign in October to encourage residents to park their cars in their garages at their homes to get them off of the streets.
