When citizens obstruct fire-rescue operations

Over the course of my career I've found the vast majority of citizens are quite helpful during emergencies. In fact, think about how many times you've encountered bystanders doing CPR on strangers, helping the driver/engineer pull supply lines down the street, or assisting their neighbors after a fire.

Sometimes, however, people get in the way, don't take direction, or — as alleged in this case — knowingly obstruct fire-rescue operations.

In these cases, it's critically important to know the scope, and limits, of your legal authority.

State and local laws generally provide fire officials with broad latitude to access private property under emergency conditions.

But the situation can become difficult, and potentially dangerous, when a property owner takes issue with the fire department.

Whether or not the law is on your side, never get into an altercation with someone asserting their property rights; you can still get into legal trouble, or worse.

As in this case, the best course of action is to quickly involve our law enforcement partners and let them handle the legalities while we concentrate on the strategy and tactics required to safely manage the incident.