PD at a fire scene.

What is the role of local police on a fire scene. Traffic control, Crowd control, or what.

This officer parked in the driveway of the house that was reported to be on fire. Is that a bad thing? What should he have done?

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Permalink Reply by Old Time Jake on February 6, 2011 at 4:40pm
One of my Lt's once stated that PD at Fire scenes make good wheel chocks
Permalink Reply by Alex Sharp on February 7, 2011 at 12:58am
We work really well with our PD and SO. They understand not to park in the way and to do crowd and traffic control. We know most of our PD and SO by name and they know us.

There was an incident in 2006 where the SO parked in the entrance to the driveway to the house that was on fire and was out of his vehicle. Needless to say his vehicle was pushed out of the way and ended up in a shallow ditch by one of our captains who was driving our type 1. Minor damage to the squad car and no damage to the fire engine. Words were exchanged with our chief and the Deputy. Later our chief talked with the sherriff and that has never happened again. No reprimeands to anyone but appoligies all around.
Permalink Reply by Pararescue on February 7, 2011 at 9:12am
God this looks like a West Seneca, NY fire scene. I think it must be a small town thing in NY. The last fire I was at the Police were dispatched 2 minutes before Fire. Upon arrival of a Chief, 4 ALS Ambulances were requested "Hot" to the scene. EMS normally comes no lights or sirens unless a victim is trapped. 7 Town PD officers were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation. Not to mention all PD cars are 1 man cars, and blocked the front of the house. The first engine was over 150 feet from the house. When the Truck pulled up, they were over 300 feet from the house. PD should be limited to traffic and crowd control. I don't remember seeing nomex on any PD issued uniforms... The Shift Commander, Lt, Capt or Chief of the police dept should have been requested to respond. And do your best to block them in, if the fire is 2 or 3 hours long and the police are stuck at the scene for that amount of time, they'll never do it again. Now the police in West Seneca are parked at the corner out of the way of incoming units and block traffic and "Buffs" from the scene.

The Fire chief is in control of the FIRE ground and should have made them move and notified dispatch that PD was blocking the scene. This is a reoccurring problem between fire and PD in this area. NYS puts the fire scene under the Fire Chief. MVA's are under the control of Police and EMS calls are under control of the highest level of responder on scene.
Permalink Reply by Brian Cohen on February 8, 2011 at 11:14am
They are still our brothers and sometimes get just as caught up in the action as some of our FF. How many FF in POV’s have done just the same or worse? Training is what helps but is very seldom done. Fire is in charge and PD can be valuable when working together. Now that being said we are Public Safety Fire/ Police and gave our officers a hard time but, the Sheriff Dept. gets it from both of us.
Permalink Reply by Davin Eshelman on February 8, 2011 at 3:53pm
Brian I see where you are coming from. I have to admit I too have been in the way with my POV.
Permalink Reply by Erik Wood on February 9, 2011 at 8:13pm
I think a key is....to have a good working relationship with local law enforcement. It has been my experience that in a sense we need each other. They have a job to do, as do we. Clear cut communication and an understanding of roles and responsibilities prior to meeting each other on scene is a must.

We have the luxury in my area of having a very good working relationship. They ask us what we need them to do on a scene that is the responsibility of the fire department. Likewise.....on a crime scene we ask them what they need from us. We even conduct joint training.

Good working relationships and networking....can prevent a lot of issues.
Permalink Reply by James Hawk on February 9, 2011 at 8:42pm
around here we refer to that as the cop-ological meter
Permalink Reply by lutan1 on February 12, 2011 at 12:34am
That's a good point!
courtney lenzPermalink Reply by courtney lenz on February 12, 2011 at 9:18am
this was out in morton, monroe county and kyle said tht the pd does get in the way but they are usually doing what they are told and they probably make arrangements to change that
Permalink Reply by Davin Eshelman on February 12, 2011 at 10:51am
No it isnt his own driveway. And I'm not bashing the PD in this one I'm just asking what the main purpose of the LEO's at a fire scene.
Permalink Reply by Derek R. on February 12, 2011 at 11:37am
I find it comical to think about other LEO's reading this and saying to themselves(like some FF do in regards to the general public)," they disrespect us, make fun of us and be critical of us, but when they need us, we better be there fast".
Anyway. Yes, sometimes they misjudge their actions for whatever reason. So do we. Can't be perfect all the time. And like what was mentioned before, if the WHOLE pictrure was looked at, I think, too, that the LEO was not in anyone's way. I would even go as far as to say that he was actually parked in the neighbors driveway, out of the way.
Just my take on these PICTURES.
Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on February 12, 2011 at 12:20pm
Derek,

All that makes sense, but doesn't matter when you start posting a flurry of "caption this" pictures out there stamped with FAIL for a nice jump to conclusions without regard for some common sense.


A picture may be worth a thousand words....however, it doesn't mean those thousands words have to be comprised of common sense.

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