South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue
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Fire engine blocked by parked cars

Firefighters are pleading with drivers not to block access to narrow streets by parking on both sides of the road after a fire engine was left unable to reach an emergency.

Fire crews were called out to Roebuck Road in Sheffield during the evening of Saturday 28 January to reports of a laundry fire at a nursing home.

The crew from Rivelin station however was unable to reach the incident due to parked cars blocking their way.

Instead, a fire engine from Central station had to attend via another route, but lost valuable minutes in reaching the incident.  Luckily no one was injured in the fire.

We are urging residents to think about their parking as they could be putting the lives of their families, friends and neighbours at risk.

Area Manager Tony Carlin, Head of Emergency Response said; “Bad parking is a real problem for firefighters. Fire engines require a gap of almost 3 meters to get through. We appreciate that people like to park as close to their property as possible, but please think could a fire engine or other emergency vehicle get through the gap.  With every second counting when attending a fire or road crash it is vital that they can get down streets quickly and safely.”

This content was last updated on February 07th, 2017