'They'll just park anywhere': McIvers fire department busy with chase the ace traffic control
The night before one lucky person draws for the elusive ace in McIvers, Jim Laing and his fellow volunteer firefighters prepare the streets for a massive crowd.
Laing, a resident of the town of less than 600, has been putting in plenty of work behind the scenes over the last 50 weeks. As the crowds get bigger and the pot grows larger, the volunteer firefighters keep getting busier.
"It's madness," Laing told CBC Radio's the Corner Brook Morning Show following last week's $540,000 jackpot.
"It's worth seeing though. You see the people coming at you and you don't know what to do — stay and watch them or turn and run. But it's pretty exciting, actually."
The fire department has been in charge of controlling the abnormal amount of traffic moving in and out of the town each weekend.
The night before, the firefighters place pylons in front of the fire hall and ribbon off restricted areas. People begin to dwindle in around 8:00 a.m., with traffic picking up at noon.
"Then you've got to be on your toes to make sure everybody is parking properly," Laing said. "Because if you're not watching them, they'll just park anywhere [so] they can get out of their car and leave."
The reason for traffic control was never more clear than last week, when a woman went into labour in the middle of the ticket line. She was able to get to her car and drive herself to the hospital with no major obstacles, despite the 4,400 people in attendance.
How to make it easier
After the draw, traffic is held up for 15 minutes while people get back to their vehicles.
To make things easier, Laing urges participants not to double park. He also suggests they leave their vehicles facing their route out of town, rather than trying to turn around in the post-draw mayhem.
There's one more thing he wants from the record crowd expected Sunday.
"Just have some patience with us," Laing said.
