COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. (WRIC) — The City of Colonial Heights has been ramping up its efforts to penalize drivers for parking in fire lanes for the last several months.
The city adopted an ordinance in September of last year, allowing certain fire personnel to issue citations in addition to Colonial Heights Police officers and sheriff’s deputies. Deputy Fire Marshal James Jennings is one of the first responders who’s been out giving out tickets to drivers.
“Some days, I’ll go out and I don’t find any. Then some days, I got, you know, two or three here, two, three there,” Jennings said.
Jennings said more than 700 tickets have been issued by the police department and fire department since October. Jennings said the fire department alone has issued more than 100 since the beginning of 2024, which means it’s averaging more than 30 tickets a month.
Jennings said the need to address drivers parking in fire lanes in the city was exemplified during a recent call for service.
“They went for a medical call. And there were several cars in the fire lane, which impeded the fire and EMS unit from being able to find a place to park and to make quick access into the building to find the patient,” Jennings said. “Think of it as if it was you or your loved one in there that we needed to get to, to assist in a timely manner. And we can’t get there because we have nowhere to park, or we’ve got a park out in the parking lot, where you should be parking.”
Parking in a fire lane in Colonial Heights can result in a $50 ticket, as well as a hefty towing bill.
