Modern emergency vehicles are slowly but surely becoming too wide for modern emergency vehicles, Montgomery County Texas fire chiefs argue. Using dashcam footage and data they’ve been collecting for a while, they’ve been working together to push the county to change how they’re designing streets.

Because of the size discrepancy between the vehicles and the streets, they say response times to emergencies have slowed. Other times, drivers of fire trucks and ambulances have had to resort to extremes to make it on time.

“The fire truck is literally having to go through the yard to make it through the structure fire,” said an official, recorded by KTRK reporters during a presentation to county commissioners.

They also argue that the rapid growth of the county’s population has pushed more people to park on the street, decreasing the overall amount of space for emergency vehicles. At a minimum, subdivision streets have to be at least 22 feet wide, which isn’t enough for fire trucks or ambulances.

“Even when people park correctly, it’s still very difficult to get through,” says Fire Chief Jason Oliphant. “People will park on both sides, and even a law enforcement car couldn’t fit in between them.”

The region’s extreme weather makes narrow streets a nightmare, he says

Texas is one of the many states that see tornadoes, which can cause a lot of damage to homes, businesses, cars, and more. Oliphant says a recent event highlighted just how difficult it was for first responders, thanks to narrow streets.

“We want to try to get everything in no more than five minutes. There was a recent tornado in the eastern part of the county and when the people were trying to come out and the fire trucks were trying to come in, on these narrow streets that doesn’t work,” he said.

County commissioners responded by proposing to widen new streets by an extra three feet for emergency vehicles, increasing the width to 25 feet. Oliphant says the more feet, the better.

“We recommend that any curved and guttered street. We’re asking that new developments be at 28 feet,” he said.

So far, commissioners are listening

After Oliphant’s presentation with the fire chief’s association, several commissioners empathize with his issue.

“The old development regulations, which I believe were back from the 1980s, had a regulation in there of 22-foot-wide streets and what we’re trying to do now is update those based on current conditions,” said Commissioner Ritch Wheeler.

“The rules are definitely going to change. We are definitely going to create new updated regulations for the county. Not just for the width of the streets but several factors when it comes to development.”