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Inconsiderate parking was again to the fore earlier this week as engines from Peaks Lane in Grimsby were unable to get down a narrow street to attend a house fire.

Crews were called to a kitchen fire on Ariston Street in Grimsby on Monday 10 October at 20.20 hours. Three engines were sent from Peaks Lane Fire Station, but encountered problems getting to the address as cars were parked on both sides of the narrow street.

The average fire engine is 2.6 metres wide (nine feet) and 8 metres long (26 feet) and most residents park with only other cars in mind rather than whether there is sufficient space for an emergency vehicle.

As reported in the Grimsby Telegraph (picture credit), Humberside Fire and Rescue's Watch Manager Dave Barnsley said:

"If we were longer getting down the road we could have been looking at a bigger blaze. Residents park far enough from one another so a car can fit through, forgetting that the emergency services cannot make a quick entrance into the streets."

Residents were called out of their homes to move their cars in order for the fire service to be able to drive down. WM Barnsley added:

"In an emergency where we have restrictions entering residential streets such as parked cars on either side of the road, we could be looking at deaths because of the time it takes us to reach people."

Fire crews distributed leaflets to residents on Huddleston Road and Ariston Street to raise awareness of the struggle the emergency services face.

Problems are often encountered by crews during busy times in and around schools, as parents flout the law and hop onto kerbs, ignore double yellow lines or double park near school gates because "they'll only be a couple of minutes". Those two minutes might ultimately cost a life....