Firefighters in Carbondale have added another duty to their job descriptions: handing out parking tickets.
The seven full-time city firefighters will now be able to write yellow parking tickets for six violations, a move Mayor Justin Taylor said he authorized Monday.
"As people probably don't know, in Pennsylvania you don't need to be a police officer to write a parking ticket," he explained.
Part of an ordinance that increased the prices of parking tickets states that meter attendants, police officers or their designees can write tickets. Mr. Taylor said the change now includes firefighters as designees.
"This is just a way that we have deputized the career members of the Fire Department," he said.
The firefighters will not write tickets for parking meter violations, he emphasized. They will only be able to write tickets for:
n Parking within 15 feet of fire hydrants.
n Parking in a fire
zone/lane.
n Parking in a handicapped space without a placard/plate.
n Parking facing the wrong direction on street.
n Parking obstructing traffic.
Mr. Taylor said the change will benefit the entire city and residents need not worry about who is writing the tickets.
"A violation of the law is a violation of the law," he said. "It doesn't matter who sees it."
The firefighters will not actively look for parking violations, but the measure will allow them to address issues they see while on the job.
"They're not going to take the firetrucks out of headquarters and look for a violation," he said.
Instead, they will be able to address vehicles they see parking in fire lanes or making it difficult for large emergency vehicles to navigate intersections.
Fire Chief Thomas Brennan said before the change, firefighters had to call the Lackawanna County Communication Center to have a police officer dispatched to address violations. He hopes the move will make drivers think twice before parking too close to an intersection or blocking a hydrant.
He was quick to dismiss the idea that firefighters will seek out violations, noting that fuel prices were too great to entertain the thought of driving the engines more than needed.
"Our primary job is firefighting and saving lives," he continued. "This is an auxiliary thing."
Contact the writer: rbrown@timesshamrock.com, @rbrownTT on Twitter