EVANSVILLE—An Island fire chief is reminding members of the public that when a vehicle is approaching them with a flashing green light on their personal vehicle to please yield to them as the light signifies they are a firefighter and are responding to an emergency.
“The old saying we use is that ‘if you see a green light, pull off to the right’,” stated Rick Graham, fire chief of the Burpee and Mills volunteer fire department. “It is just a courtesy and if they can let us pass them, it helps us in responding to an emergency.”
Mr. Graham explained that recently, “my ex-wife had called me and said her dad had passed out at home and she had called an ambulance and I said I would go out and check on him. I put the flashing green light on the dashboard of my own vehicle. On the way out responding to the call, I got behind a lady who was driving a Jeep.”
“I wasn’t speeding but I came upon her vehicle quickly. She did pull over to the shoulder of the road bringing up a lot of smoke and dust from the road,” said Mr. Graham. “I pulled over. She had got scared because she didn’t know who was behind her and what the flashing green light was for.”
“I explained to her who I am that I was just going to an emergency call,” said Mr. Graham. “Oh definitely, this has happened in the past. I remember one time when a guy driving in front of me was unsure of whether to put his brakes on or take off. We are not allowed to speed in our vehicles, even though we have the green lights flashing. If people see me or any other firefighter not following the Highway Traffic Act, they should report this.”
Mr. Graham pointed out most of the firefighters will put the flashing green lights on the dashboard of their vehicle when they are responding to an emergency.
