CBRM firefighters want to hand out tickets to motorists who park in firebreaks

After a year-long campaign to prevent motorists from parking in firebreaks, Cape Breton Regional Fire and Emergency Services wants to take the next step to end the practice.

The department says it plans to ask the county for permission to allow fire prevention offers to issue tickets to violators.

“Our prevention officers are already special agents with the county so they can enforce both building codes and fire codes,” said Craig MacNeil, the deputy fire chief. Now the department wants them to be able to ‘take care of part of the enforcement’.

While MacNeil can’t recall a case where a vehicle blocked access while firefighters were responding to an emergency, he says he wants to avoid such a scenario.

During the campaign last summer, traffic service Const. Brian Barkhouse says the Cape Breton Police Department has handed out dozens of tickets.

“We issued about 40 tickets sporadically over a few weeks in those few hours across all three wards of the council,” he says.

Both MacNeil and Barlhouse say local business owners should either warn offending drivers when they park in a firebreak or alert the police.

“Companies need to be more aware to report these issues to the police so we know where the issues are,” says Barkhouse.