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Question on what we can legally do.
Hey I'm from a smaller fire dept in upstate NY we deal with more drafting and tankers then actually using hydrants up here we do have them in the town but that is realitivly small compared to the rest of our responce area. Now my question is if your dealing with a structure fire (room of contents, full involved ect.) and there is a car parked in front of the hydrant are we legally allowed to break through the windows and put a line through to get to the hydrant or not ?(yeah like in backdraft), just decideing to feed my curoisity
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Art "ChiefReason" Goodrich on
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We don't use hard suction anymore. We use 5" soft suction. You can snake it around the car and then you can have the police issue a ticket, you can bill for your service, have the states' attorney slap on lien on the owner and then have the tow truck haul it away.
What do you want to bet that they won't do it again?
On the other side, if you damage the vehicle, then you open the door for a lawsuit and I believe the judge would rule in favor of the car owner. Judges aren't real fond of vigilante justice; even if they secretly agree with it.
Make it expensive.
TCSS.
Art
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Permalink Reply by Joe Stoltz on
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Apology accepted!
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Permalink Reply by BillySFCVFD on
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No mallet or spanner will fix that leak, only a new gasket. " Damn, we don't have a spare one today!" Oh well the back seat will soak up most of it. Venting, only venting folks. Hope it never happens, will have enough to do on scene. TCSS
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Permalink Reply by SWATrauma on
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I wouldnt stick my neck out with that move.......i agree with trying to find a way around the vehicle...or a non-destructive means of removing the vehicle. Just because someone is a moron in how they park probably doesnt give you legal means to destroy something.
I would LOVE to do it personally....but i doubt i would last very long in the service if i did.
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Permalink Reply by Walter Messer on
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ahh just put it on the hood.. it shows compassion not to break the window, but it will shake enough to wear the paint off
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Permalink Reply by Reg Mathis on
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As has been mentioned, it is an unlikely situation that the car could park close enough to the hydrant to block access, but if it were the case, I think I'd just use the engine to push the car out of the way. I would think it would be quicker than breaking the windows and feeding the hose through...
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Permalink Reply by rfdjumper on
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That brings up a good point. In my department if responding to a structure fire on a half street and someone has parked way too far out into the street or double parked, with a chiefs permission we ARE allowed to push a vehicle out of the way.
The picture below is of one of Reading, PA more spacious half streets, there are only houses on 1 side of the street.
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Permalink Reply by Kenneth Holley on
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Talking along the same line. What about someone putting a fence around a hydrant. Once at a call i had to cut a hole in a chain link fence to gain access to a plug. Granted there was a gate but it had a lock on it and i just could not get the lock cut, so, snip snip went some of the fence. Now the fence goes around the plug instead of in front of it.
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RFD, I was thinking about the problem of a ladder truck setting up on a street like you have pictured. There must not always be room enough for stabilizers to be placed without moving a car or two, correct?
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Permalink Reply by T.J. on
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Great question Scott, I'd really have to think about it if i was going to smash the windows out of a car, like said before PR come first and the media would eat that up, especially being from a smaller town.
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Permalink Reply by catfish on
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i would hook a chain to it with another truck and pull it out of the way
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Windows are cheaper then transmissions to replace.
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