Fire chiefs in Bath are warning about the dangers of illegally parked cars after emergency services had trouble reaching a fire.

Crews were called to a kitchen fire in Seymour Road, Camden at 9.10am on Friday.

As the house is round the corner from Bath Fire Station, crews assumed they would be on the scene in a matter of minutes.

But they were hampered by illegally parked cars on Snow Hill, which resulted in one fire engine becoming stuck and unable to reach the house.The watch manager and one of the fire crew ran to the house, where a man had managed to use the family’s fire blanket to extinguish the fire on the hob.All three people in the house had to be treated for the effects of smoke inhalation.

But the situation could have been much worse and fire chiefs are warning people to make sure they leave enough room for emergency vehicles to get through when they park.

Avon Fire & Rescue Service’s group manager for B&NES, Rob Davis, said:

“Thankfully the family were alerted to the fire by their smoke alarm, so were given that vital early warning that they were in potential danger.

“Every second counts when it comes to a fire and the heavy parking caused considerable difficulties for our firefighters trying to get to the scene.

“We have a number of areas in Avon with narrow streets, Bath in particular causes challenges for emergency service vehicles.

“We’re appealing to people to ensure they think before they park, especially on junctions, whether an emergency vehicle could get through.”

Although the gentleman was extremely brave to tackle the fire himself, we would always advise that as soon as someone finds a fire, they shut the door to the room where the fire is, get out of the property and call 999.”

(Taken from the Bath Chronicle, last week’s edition)