9:51am Saturday 4th July 2009
By John Harrison
Firefighters have pleaded with car owners to park more intelligently, after illegally parked vehicles blocked fire engines from getting to a serious fire early this morning.
Firefighters were called to a terrace house in Hatfield Road, in Watford, at about 5.30am.
The fire is thought to have started in a bedroom, after the family lit candles to deal with a power cut in the area last night.
However, when fire engines arrived at the scene they were initially unable to get to the house because of illegally parked cars blocked their path.
Crew Commander Tony McMenamin told the Watford Observer this morning: “Unfortunately due to some very poor parking down to residents in and around the nearby streets it delayed our fire engine getting to the fire.
“We had to actually push some cars away and it delayed us by a good few minutes.”
Five people were involved in the blaze – believed to be a couple, their daughter and their grandchildren.
Nobody was injured in the fire, by crews reported “substantial” damage to the property.
One fire engine from Watford and one from Garston Fire Station were sent to the blaze.
Crew Commander McMenamin added: “Once we actually got there it was quickly dealt with the fire, but there was a lot of parking on double yellow lines which delayed our attendance.
“We just couldn't get our fire engines around some of those corners.”
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