FIREFIGHTERS are appealing to residents to consider how they park after crews were delayed getting to an emergency house fire.

Crews from Witham rushed to a house fire in Greenwell Road Witham where a woman was trapped upstairs.

But they were delayed reaching the scene by almost five minutes due to badly parked cars in the Gershwin Estate.

They were forced to use their sirens to wake residents up to move their cars.

Watch manager Andy Mott from Witham Fire Station said any delays are “frustrating” and can put lives at risk.

Braintree and Witham Times:

He added: “During a house fire, seconds count, especially when there is somebody trapped inside the property.

“Any delay to an incident puts lives at risks and it’s frustrating when these delays are caused by people who park inconsiderately.

“We were really worried about the woman inside during that five-minute delay and only had one route to reach the house fire.

“Thankfully, we did reach the incident quickly and were able to rescue the woman from her bedroom.

“We had to give her first aid as she’d breathed in smoke and had burns to one of her hands.

“I would urge Witham residents to consider how they park, please consider if a fire engine or other emergency vehicle can fit through when you park. Bad parking puts lives at risk.”

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Essex County Fire and Rescue Service released a post on Facebook showing images of how badly cars were parked.

Crews revisited the estate a day later to see if they could fit a fire engine through the parked cars and to chat with residents who had parked inconsiderately.

The team also put leaflets on cars where they could not give advice to the owners.

They also used the time to give home fire safety advice to residents.

Witham Fire Station is recruiting on-call firefights, to find out more about to role and to apply go to join.essex-fire.gov.uk/on-call.