Firefighters say parents blocking lane at Penn-Kidder

Firefighters are concerned about emergency access to the athletic fields at the Penn-Kidder Campus in the Jim Thorpe Area School District.

“This is an ongoing issue. We’re just asking for your support to correct the problem,” said Bruce Berger, Albrightsville Fire Company chief.

Berger attended Wednesday’s school board meeting to discuss an incident which occurred Monday night at the school.

First responders needed to access the field to treat a youth football player, who suffered a broken arm. They found that the fire lane was blocked by vehicles belonging to parents attending the practice.

Berger said eventually the parents moved the cars and the fire vehicles and ambulance got access to the fields. But he said he’s concerned about accessing the field and school in case of a more serious emergency.

He said he contacted Kidder Township Police to see if they could write tickets for people who park at the school in areas which block access for emergency vehicles.

In order to make the parking regulations clear, he said the no parking signs and painted curbs near the fire lane outside the school could be refreshed.

Superintendent John Rushefski, who has been on the job a little over a month, said he wants to make sure that first responders are able to access the school and its grounds.

“We’re not happy with the way this went down. Safety has to be number one. Convenience of parking is not number one,” he said.

Lori Leinhard, the district’s director of security, said the district has agreements with Kidder and Jim Thorpe Police where they can enforce parking and traffic violations on school property.

“That’s the only way it’s going to correct the problem, and we are going to start doing that,” she said.

One of the youth coaches who attended the meeting, T.J. Garritano, said part of the problem is the access to the fields from Route 903 is blocked by an electronic sign set up by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Amber Everett said she used to sit on the board of the booster club which runs the youth program, and she heard similar concerns. She said the boosters asked PennDOT to remove the electronic sign, which is used to display information about Pocono Raceway traffic, but PennDOT didn’t do it.

Board president Pearl Downs-Sheckler asked building and grounds director Ted Larizzio if the signs and curb painting could be redone to discourage parents from blocking access to the fields.

Larizzio said he is happy to make updates to the facility, but he believes it ultimately comes down to drivers not wanting to walk from a parking spot, which isn’t directly next to the field.

Everett, the former booster board member, said the boosters have also reminded parents not to park in a way which blocks the field.

“Honestly, it’s the ignorance and unwillingness of parents,” she said.