When you are driving near any of the firehouses you will see a yellow flas
hing light in the street in the vicinity of the firehouse. A flashing yellow light means to “proceed with caution” so the fire department remind residents to be careful when driving near the firehouses, especially when that light turns to a solid red signal as that could indicate that emergency apparatus is about to enter the roadway to respond to an alarm or that emergency apparatus is returning from an alarm and is about to back into the firehouse.
Remember, a red light means to come to a complete stop and wait until either directed to continue or the light returns to flashing yellow. Please be patient and wait until the apparatus has entered the roadway or has been safely backed into the firehouse and the light returns to flashing yellow before slowly proceeding past the firehouse, making sure that no fire department personnel are still in the roadway. There have been incidents where fire department personnel have been struck or nearly struck by vehicles that were in too much of a rush to wait until the roadway is clear. Everyone’s goal should be to make sure that the firefighters/EMS personnel that serve and protect are community are able to go home safely to their families after each and every alarm.
—Submitted by Kevin Regan
