Where does the firetruck park at Flomaton Elementary School?
It took multiple people getting killed at the intersection of Highway 31 and Highway 113 before the Alabama Highway Department finally agreed to put rumble strips on 113 heading into Flomaton.
All of those fatalities involved people coming into Flomaton on Highway 113 and whether it was fog or whatever, they plowed into vehicles stopped on Highway 31 attempting to make a left turn. The last crash on Aug. 30, 2010, killed four people, including a father and his son who were making that left turn.
It took some begging and pleading and it took business owners and residents near that intersection to get ALDOT to put up the rumble strips. We were there when they finally agreed. There have been wrecks there since, but nobody has been in a wreck or killed from someone going straight through the red light coming off 113 since the rumble strips were installed.
We hope it doesn't take a tragic incident for the Escambia County (Ala.) School Board to react to a problem at Flomaton Elementary School that has been brought to its attention on numerous occasions.
The problem is fire truck or ambulance access to the rear of the school behind the newest portion of the building. On multiple occasions school officials have been made aware of this problem and as of today nothing has been done other than moving a few school buses.
Cars are packed in there so tight that there's no way a fire truck can park close to the building. Best case scenario is a few of the teachers' cars will have damage from firemen dragging hoses across their vehicles in the event of a fire. Worst case scenario will be if the building is on fire with children trapped inside and they can't gain access to the building or they run out of fire hose because they had to stop some 50 to 100 feet from the building due to the packed lot.
We've been told the problem will be addressed. It hasn't been addressed.
The solution is simple; create a no parking fire lane next to the school and if teachers have to walk a little farther to get to their classroom, so be it.
If you don't believe us, ride behind the elementary school today and see if you think a fire truck could squeeze in there in the event of a fire.
We shouldn't have to wait for a tragic event to get the school board to fix this problem.
