The motorist risked parking in front of a fire hydrant and almost got a house burned.
Firefighters in Pennsauken, N.J. had to break the windows of a Honda SUV parked illegally in front of a hydrant when responding to a fire at a vacant row home at 4:17 a.m. Wednesday.
Chief Jospeh Palumbo told the Daily News the crew members had no other option but to break open the front right and left rear windows so they could connect the hose to access the water supply.
“If someone is parked illegally we still have the responsibility to get water,” he said, adding the next available hydrant was also partially blocked by a vehicle.
The chief has been with the department for 20 years and said he never encountered this situation before.
“People are usually more considerate than parking in front of a fire hydrant,” he said.
The department has received criticism from people on social media for breaking the windows, but the chief said the first responders exhausted every option before making this decision. He added there were people in homes on both sides of the burning structure and they needed to tend to the blaze immediately.
The 4-inch wide hose would not fit under the car and if they ran the line above or around the vehicle the angle would have restricted the water flow, he said.
There also wasn’t time to get the vehicle towed, Palumbo said.
The windows were broken out but the vehicle sustained no other damage, he said.
Firefighters contained the blaze to one room in the home. The fire is considered suspicious and Palumbo said squatters have been known to stay in the vacant home.