Bad parking holds up crew attending fire at Clarkston property

Fire crews struggled to reach a property on fire in Clarkston's Carolside Avenue as their appliances couldn't get round badly parked cars.
The scene of the fire in Carolside Avenue, where neighbours reported fire crews had difficulty gaining access to the property.The scene of the fire in Carolside Avenue, where neighbours reported fire crews had difficulty gaining access to the property.
The scene of the fire in Carolside Avenue, where neighbours reported fire crews had difficulty gaining access to the property.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) was called out to a blaze in a ground floor property at 12.20pm on Sunday (December 16).

Fortunately, no one was seriously injured in the fire, although one man was taken to hospital.

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But neighbours reported that the fire appliances were initially unable to reach the scene as the road was partially blocked by parked cars.

One vehicle in particular was reported to have caused an obstruction due to being parked so far out from the kerb.

One neighbour told the Extra: “The first fire engine to arrive was prevent from attending to the fire sooner as it could not get passed the car.

“It had to reverse back on to Hillview Drive, get back on the busy Busby Road and approach the incident past St Joseph’s Chapel, along Cecil Street.

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“As the congregation was in attendance at the time, the surrounding streets were extremely busy with parked cars, some parked right on the corners on double yellow lines.

“This further hindered the firefighters in their efforts to tackle the blaze.”

The neighbour said it took “a good 10 minutes” for the fire crews to gain proper access to tackle the blaze.

“I’m sure if they hadn’t been delayed, more damage could have been prevented.”

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He added that the residential street is normally full of parked cars, but it was inconsiderate and badly parked cars that caused the problems on this occasion.

A SFRS spokeswoman said: “The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was alerted at 12.20pm on Sunday, December 16, to smoke coming from a property in Clarkston.

“Operations Control mobilised three fire engines to Carolside Avenue where firefighters extinguished the fire on the ground floor.

“One male casualty was treated at the scene by the Scottish Ambulance Service for smoke inhalation and was thereafter transferred to hospital for further treatment.

“Crews left the scene after ensuring the area was made safe.”