Drivers failing to give way to trucks exiting Ballarat City's Sturt St station as they respond to emergencies have been increasingly frustrating firefighters, who say the behaviour is adversely affecting their response time.

"Time is of the essence when dealing with emergencies, and every second counts," fire officer Anthony Pearce said.

"There seems to have been an increase in traffic flow in the area in the past 12 months, and what we are confronted with, when leaving the station to respond to emergencies, is that vehicles are not slowing or stopping.

"There are times when people fail to give way to let us out. Without a doubt, it slows our response time."

Mr Pearce said although flashing lights outside the station signalled when a truck would be exiting, many drivers ignored the signals and failed to give way, or slowed down, which made more traffic chaos for the trucks to negotiate.

"There are times when you might have to pause and wait for three or four cars to go past before you can leave, but the other issue is when other motorists do recognise we are coming and slow down, which potentially creates traffic congestion," he said.

"It has been an issue from time to time in the past, but for some reason in the last 12 months it has got a lot worse.

"Basically what we are really after is for people to realise they are required to give way to emergency vehicles, and when passing the fire station, if the lights are flashing, we ask them to be extra vigilant, realise there may be an emergency vehicle exiting and provide an opportunity for us to get out safely."

Mr Pearse said motorists were not only frustrating firefighters with their actions but could be risking their own safety as well.

"There is the potential for danger because there could be up to three trucks exiting at the same time," he said.

"In general most motorists have a good appreciation of what's required of them, however there are times when there could be 30 cars coming, and it only takes one car to not behave appropriately to cause congestion and confusion and block the path for us.

"The main thing we are asking is for people to give way and, where safe to do so, move out of the way to allow us a clear path of travel.

"We are just frustrated that people are seemingly ignorant of the requirement to give way."