Firefighters and The Law

Let us limit our discussion to Western countries, to make it simpler.

How and why is it legal for government employees to enter my house when I am away just because it is on fire? I realize of course it is. I also realize it ought to be (fire is a public danger).

Still, there must be some interesting case law on this.

Some questions come to my fevered mind. If firefighters enter my home can they seize evidence of a crime? What if the evidence is not in plain sight?

Can I chase firefighters off my property if I do not want the fire to be put out? What if this particular fire is not a public danger? Can I chase them off my lawn if they are using it to fight a fire on my neighbor’s property?

Are firefighters (and their agencies) liable for damages caused in my home? What if my high-priced lawyer can prove they caused more damage that was required? Am I liable if a firefighter comes in my home and steps in my collection of Africa Lion Traps I keep in the living room?

Are laws like this pretty universal, or do some countries do things differently?

Answer to main question:

Regarding firefighters damaging your home, there is a doctrine called the firefighter’s rule, which holds that firefighters should know that entering a burning builiding is dangerous, and therefore assume the risk of injury.

http://www.legislature.mi.gov/mileg.asp?page=getObject&objName=mcl-600-2967&queryid=10278177

But there are many exceptions.

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3898/is_200406/ai_n9435709

The fire itself may be evidence of a crime, or evidence of other crimes may be damaged or destroyed by fire, your objections to the fire being controlled may have any number of motivations, all of which could be disputed after the immediate event.

The fire fighter does not have the luxury of time to set up a debating group to discuss the merits of wehter or not to tackle a particular incident.

The overriding presumption is surely to act on the assumption that there is a risk to public safety unless its immediately apparent there is no such risk, which would need the ‘once over’ by a trained professional such as a firefighter.

Immediately apparent would mean just that, quickly obvious, if in fact there was no real risk, but it was not obvious there was no real risk, then the firefighter would still be in the clear.

You could ask the firefighters not to enter your premises but I would assume that they would wish to make some sort of assessment, if the result of their assessment was that there were some risk, to persons, property or environment then you would not be able to legally stop them.

In that situation, they would most likely take a look, decide the risks were nil and would withdraw, although they might keep someone around to monitor things.

They might also look to see if you had taken sensible precautions, they would (in Europe and especially UK) send in a Fire Authority inspector who would investigate wether you had carried out the necessary evaluation of risk.
It is possible that the risk was negligable but you might be prosecuted for not making a ‘suitable and sufficient’ risk assessment.

In most incidents, there is a person available, such as a senior supervisor, who would be able to lock the site down until other investigators arrived, and the lock down would happen if there were any suspicion of some crime.

In the UK, fire authorities have their own investigators who have the powers of constables, and actually have some extra powers, such as the right to enter premises without a warrant, usually accompanied by a constable who is under the inspectors orders.

Such an inspector could certainly sieze any evidence relating to criminal fire damage, other evidence would be reported to police investigators.

Setting traps, or having your premises as being unsafe to enter, by way of your African Lion traps would be a criminal offence, I could quote the actual wording and Act of Parliament exactly on this issue, it would come under ‘Persons in Control of Premises’ which is a subsection of the Health And Safety At Work Act 1974(HASAWA)

Damages by firefighters in the line of duty are covered by Good Samaritan laws:

http://www.nvfc.org/benefits/state-by-state.php?Type=Malpractice

Also, there are issues of sovereign immunity if you try to sue the fire department.

http://wyomcases.courts.state.wy.us/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?citeID=122819

Here is an interesting case.

http://mrsc-web.mrsc.org/mc/courts/supreme/144wn2d/144wn2d0774.htm

This area is probably the murkiest of the three that you asked about.

See, http://www.hrva.com/pgcasualty/94sprqr.htm#IMMUNITY

Surely I am allowed to keep my African Lion Traps in my own home? It is a private place and the pose no danger in normal circumstances, although a fire fighter my injure himself due to limited visibility during an emergency.

As to evidence, would a fire inspector take evidence of illegal activity not related to the fire and its cause?

(By the way, some of my English books here are in fact British. Is the use of the term ‘firefighter’ or ‘fireman’ more or less standard there now, or is ‘fire protection officer’ in common use?)

Your lion traps are causing a danger in normal circumstances, its only your knowledge that they are there that keeps them from injuring you, anyone without that knowledge is at risk, in fact their presence is actually an abnormal circumstance, its not reasonable for anyone to expect such an unprotected hazard in any premises, now if they had warning signs and safety guards…

In the same way, you would not be able to keep certain substances, chemicals and the like, without permits.

They call themselves firefighters, although ‘firemen’ is still common parlance. ‘Fire Protection Officer’ is a different job entirely, more along the lines of Health & Safety Officer, and Environmental Health Officer.

Interesting item I remember seeing on the news.

http://www.detnow.com/wxyz/nw_local_news/article/0,2132,WXYZ_15924_3051335,00.html

Not in Michigan.

http://www.legislature.mi.gov/mileg.asp?page=getObject&objName=mcl-750-81d&queryid=10279130
http://www.legislature.mi.gov/mileg.asp?page=getObject&objName=mcl-750-241&queryid=10279130

According to the case I cited, if it is no longer an emergency, the inspector needs a warrant to investigate the fire.

I’m not familiar with any authority on this point, but my WAG is that if there is evidence of a crime in plain sight, the inspector could seize it, though he would probably be better off contacting the police and having them do it.

If the evidence is not in plain sight, and the scope of the warrant does not permit the inspector to look where the stuff is, then the inspector has no business finding it in the first place.

Problem is, when you are looking for arson tools, some of which are small and some of which are liquids, there are few places you can’t be expected to look for them.

Back in college, we had a fire in my apartment (dog knocked over a lit candle that a careless housemate left burning). She also happened to have marijuana plants in her room.
Also in the apartment are some street signs left by previous tenants.

Along comes the fire department (and police).

After the fire was extinguished, the police promptly remove the plants but do not arrest the housemate on grounds that they had no warrant, but were somehow still entitled to confiscate the plants.

I was questioned about the street signs but told them (the truth) that they were holdovers from the previous tenant and that if they wanted them they could take them. They left the signs.

I have heard similar stories. I think this is because:

  1. The police think this is the rule, but it really isn’t;
  2. The police cut you a break, and came up with a legal-sounding justification for it;
  3. State law is more stringent than federal on warrant requirements; or
  4. Some combination of the above.

And see this story:

Drug Rehab Addiction Treatment Drug Rehabilitation Alcohol Rehab Centers (wherein the police were not so nice under similar circumstances)

And check out the news item I cited earlier. (In that case, the fire department was responding to a gas leak, and found naked pictures–completely legal naked pictures–in the guy’s basement. They seized the pictures and some other stuff and photographed his basement, all while the gas leak was still an ongoing emergency.)

Ok. I didn’t have it quite right. The firefighters contacted the police, who then searched the basement without a warrant.

http://www.arborupdate.com/article/373/ypsi-police-may-face-federal-charges

My searching skills are lacking but I believe that firemen in the U.K. have a statutory right of entry in such cases - they don’t need your permission.

Here is a short FAQ on the situation in Manitoba.

(My bold) The case you cited wouldn’t apply if the fire was on the property. In your article, the danger was a gas leak outside the individual’s home. The emergency was no longer related to that house once the gas leak was controlled.
If a house has been on fire, the arson investigators continue to have access until full determination of origin has been established, according to my firefighter husband. I don’t have an internet cite, and his code book is at work.

And here are some good cases upholding firefighters’ seizures of contraband and the use of the seized evidence at trial.

http://www.mrsc.org/mc/courts/supreme/108wn2d/108wn2d0193.htm

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:ydQ2LcnzdbgJ:www.courts.state.va.us/opinions/opncavwp/2024971.doc+firefighters+discover+contraband&hl=en&client=firefox-a

http://www.law.cornell.edu/nyctap/I01_0113.htm

The United States Supreme Court says that once the investigators leave, they can’t come back without a warrant:

(Emphasis added).

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=464&invol=287 (evidence of arson discovered by fire investigators in warrantless post-fire search excluded because warrantless post-fire search violated defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights).

But I agree that:

  1. If the firefighters had needed to snoop around in the guy’s basement in order to make sure the a fire was out; and
  2. If the things discovered had appeared to be contraband (naked pictures are seldom contraband)

The firefighters could have legally seized the evidence themselves, or involved the police. In that particular case, neither proposition was true, which is why the story made the news.

and see, http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=mt&vol=97&invol=710 (Montana constitution required exclusion of evidence where police entered home to seize evidence without warrant after firefighters had left).

As an extension to the African Lion Traps questions, I’ve heard verbal chat to the effect that razor wire requires a permit here (San Jose, Calif), and an issue (the main issue?) is access by firefighters. Permitting requirements are usually county-by-county.

It may be that surrounding your place with razor wire allows you the honor and privilege of putting out your own fires.

This post contains second-hand and speculative information. Use at your own risk.

http://www.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/California/San%20Jose/title00285.htm/chapter00295.htm?f=templates$fn=altmain-nf.htm$3.0#JD_17.24.040

Surrounding your home with razor wire will earn you the privilege of a citation and an order to remove it.