COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. -- It's been five months since the city of Colonial Heights began a zero-tolerance stance to stop drivers from parking in fire lanes.
Although hundreds of tickets have been written, the problem has worsened, with an ambulance and fire truck recently unable to park close to an emergency due to cars parked in a fire lane.
"I do see it as an issue," said Chris Carlyle, who says he is concerned about the number of cars parked in fire lanes. "It's an issue all the time."
On October 1, 2023, Colonial Heights began issuing parking citations for drivers who were illegally parked in fire lanes.
In the first 18 days, 131 citations were written. After three months - 576 citations were written.
And now, nearly 6 months later, 700 fire lane citations have been written. Some of those 700 drivers received an additional ticket if police officers found added violations. That adds another 200 citations to the original 700.
Recently, firefighters had a tough time parking an ambulance and fire truck when they were dispatched for an unresponsive person inside a business.
"There were three vehicles parked in the fire lane, directly in front of the store," said Colonial Heights fire lieutenant Troy Allen. "It delays us when we can’t position properly to be most efficient and quick in doing the services we provide."
When the battalion chief arrived to ask the driver to move his car, he didn't pull into a parking space, but "immediately pulled in behind the fire apparatus in the fire lane," Allen said.
He later received a fire lane citation, which is $50 but can double to $100 if you don't contest or pay the ticket within five business days.
Selected fire and police officials will continue to write citations at shopping centers across the city in an effort to reduce the number of cars parking in fire lanes.
Recently, the Colonial Heights city council also approved a volunteer who will also be able to write fire lane violations.
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