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Fire blast

Eve Dugdale
11/ 7/2007

GLOSSOP firefighters say people's lives are being put at risk because of inconsiderate parking.

The town's fire brigade issued the warning after being unable to get to a call-out because of double parked cars over the weekend.

They were sent to Red Court care home on Hollin Cross Lane at 7.30pm on Sunday after an automatic fire alarm was activated.

The crew had to stop at the end of the road until residents moved their cars.

Luckily there was no fire - the alarm had been activated by condensation due to a leak in the roof.

Watch manager Howard Groves said he's worried the next time they won't be so fortunate.

"We're not saying 'you can't do this and you can't do that' we're just asking people to take a bit of care. They may park in a way that other cars can get down the road but they don't think about fire engines," he said.

"A lot of residents leave room for the dustbin men on days when they know the bins are being emptied so all we're asking is for them to park this way everyday in case we need to get down there.

"Usually, it only means moving an extra six inches but it makes such a difference.

"We can run 150 metres of hose out and run down the street but the extra time could mean the difference between life or death.

"After we had attended this job at Red Court we couldn't turn around at the end of the road either because of residents parking right up to the junction.

"There are a lot of narrow roads in Glossop built when there weren't many cars around so we know it's difficult to park but we're just asking people to have some consideration for us."