LETTER: Fire chief emphasizes crucial no-parking zones
Oct. 2, 2021To the community:
Curbside space in front of the Main Street fire station is a no-parking zone. Photo by Gordon Miller
I would like to remind people to not park in front of our fire stations. Even if there is no incident at that very time, we don't know when there will be. Wednesday, one of our officers saw a pickup towing a trailer parked in front of the Main Street station blocking three bays. Had there been a call, three front-line trucks were blocked and we would have had to wait for someone to move it. When confronted, the driver apologized.
This is not the first time. Another person was parked in front of the station and went into a local store, who also apologized. Apologizing is fine, but we would rather people just not park there. Cars have been known to stop running and then what happens when we have a call?
It seems that more now than prior to the construction, vehicles are parking there. I don't know if it’s because of the sidewalk and red stamped concrete that people think it’s OK to park there or people that just don't think about it or care.
I would also like to remind people that along Main Street, there are sections that are lined out. This is considered no parking. These areas allow vehicles to make turns, such as in front of McGillicuddy's and other intersections. That space is not for customers to get take-out orders or for dining in our nice restaurants, it's to allow longer vehicles to make the turn off Stowe Street. If longer vehicles (fire trucks, busses, etc), or vehicles pulling trailers try to turn onto South Main Street from Stowe Street and there are vehicles parked at the lined spot on Main Street, longer vehicles can't make that turn.
There are also lines in front of Shaw’s market that say Fire Lane and the Village Market also says No Parking. These areas are set up for the fire department to be able to connect to the fire hydrant and also connect to the building’s fire department connection so that we can feed the building’s sprinkler systems. But, people park in these locations all of the time. The people that park in these locations are not all from out of state, some are local residents.
Please park in actual parking spaces, and think about emergency access. Thank you.
Gary Dillon, Fire Chief
Emergency Mgt. Director