Parking space

It's a ritual witnesses on a near weekly basis across the street from The Beacon's office on Elizabeth Drive in Gander.

First, sirens will be set off, followed by one of the big red trucks operated by the Town's volunteer fire department. At this point, vehicles belonging to other fire fighters will pull into the fire hall parking lot.

It's a quick process, and necessarily so given the important work involved in fire fighting, whether it be offering assistance at the scene of an accident or putting out a blaze.

Now, consider the scene last Friday and Saturday outside that same building. The H1N1 vaccination clinic at the Evangelical Pentecostal Church caused a great deal of traffic on Elizabeth Drive - so much so that a road block was set up to keep motorists from getting onto the street from Airport Boulevard, and forcing traffic cops to control the flow of vehicles along the busy street.

Parking availability in the area those two days was minimal, and even some spots in The Beacon's parking lot began to disappear. Some of our own staff had trouble Friday locating a parking space.

This also stretched over to the fire hall's parking lot. In the spaces where fire fighters would typically leave their vehicles while responding to a call, cars belonging to clinic attendees were left.

If any sort of emergency were to have come about, this would have created a significant nuisance for members of the fire department. Where would they have left their cars, and how would this have affected its response time?

These circumstances created a dangerous situation that could have had turned out badly if an urgent had been placed with the department.

Sunday, of course, was a day that did not allow for the use of the church, but vaccinations were still carried-out within the area at the medical clinic on Bell Place. Still not an ideal location.

Had Central Health thought about the potential impact placing the H1N1 vaccination clinic would have on parking in the area and the potential repercussions for the church's neighbours at the fire hall? It would seem not.

Perhaps the Gander Community Centre might have been the best option. Whether it could be used for future clinics to treat the general population remains to be seen.

Until then, be thankful all was relatively quiet at the fire hall last weekend.