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 E4 on February 3, 2011 at 10:37am
This is a UNIVERSAL problem. Out of control here. They want the "hero save award" so bad they block they roads, vent before it's time go in without PPE, we have gear inspections ect SCBA fit test for a reason. You don't see the FD working a bank being robbed or a crime scene of any sort. Cops think they are the law not just simple enforcers of the law.
Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on February 3, 2011 at 10:54am
1- Look at the cop car; bumper-to-bumper with a PARKED, snow covered car. If that's as far as the cop got, how much further do think the apparatus would get?

2- Snow is piled next to the road, which tells me that most likely, the streets are narrow due to plowed/piled snow, parked cars, etc. Do you really think that ladder could make the driveway, under the best of conditions?

3- With possibly narrow streets due to snow/parked cars, did you consider that the cop actually made a SMART move by getting his car OFF the street?

4- Our ladder has a 103' stick, easily able to reach from the street to the roof top and would have positioned at the curb, regardless.

It strikes me that whenever I read about fire departments having problems with police departments, it NEVER comes from a chief, usually just one of the members who may have his own problems or issues with the local PD, had an issue with the PD ONCE on scene and in his mind is a continuing problem or, most likely, HEARD about a problem from somebody else, somewhere else and now thinks it's a huge issue everywhere.
Permalink Reply by John Dobson on February 3, 2011 at 12:07pm
Pump the truck! Thats what we did on are last fire.

Yes he was a reserve deputy but is a full time firefighter with are MA partner department. Kinda funny seeing a cop up on the platform working the truck. We teased him about being used on the ventalation crew with his gun also.
That was the same fire where some white hemets were covered in blown insulation carrying pike poles. Way cool

I will say several of our county deputys are officers or firefighters on fire depts some where in the county. That helps

But alot of times they never show even when needed on a fire or medical run or even a vehicle accident if it is pd only. They tell us they don't have the man power who knows. But when they call for us we always show.
Permalink Reply by WestPhilly on February 3, 2011 at 12:15pm
Jack,

You beat me to it (although I alluded to this in my initial post). He's not blocking a hydrant and he's almost certainly not blocking anyone's apparatus.

This cop could show Philly cops how NOT to be in the way.
Permalink Reply by Russ on February 3, 2011 at 2:12pm
on the lighter side of this question: we responded to a gas leak where the main gas line comes into a distribution facility where the mercaptin is injected---the cop parks his car just outside the gates and we stop about 100yds away to evaluate before we go in. the cop is outside his car jumping up and down waving us in. his supervisor calls him on the radio and orders him to WALK over to where we are. when he gets there the sergent asks him what his car runs on?--gasolene--does it have spark plugs? yes---why would you bring a car with gas and spark plugs into a cloud of gas? he realizes what could have happens and deflates then we told him why police cars are two colors, its a conspiracy to use cops as evaluators because we know you wount get out of the car unless its something worthwile so...

(from a distance)
if the car changes colors we know the substance is crossive

if you are outside the car waving us in we know its not a respitrory irritant

and if there is no explosion we know the cloud is not near the LEL-UEL

we handed him an orange DOT book so he can stay safe

(i know my spelling sucks)
Permalink Reply by Wil Inman on February 3, 2011 at 2:53pm
true, he could have parked a good distance away to be out of the rigs way! we have that problem with cops just wanting to be nosey....
Permalink Reply by John L. VanAuken on February 3, 2011 at 2:57pm
Personaly I dont see how this officer is in the way, he seems fine to me. We in our area have had our issues with some officers parking in the way. It dosent happen that offten, but it dose happen, and we do get allong with our LEO's here. We do not have a PD in the town I live, it is coverd by the Sheriffs Dept, and they do a pretty good job in our district. I cannot say that they are allways right, for as we all know, it only takes one to make all look bad. I have even thought about becoming a deputy, and our Battalion Cheif is also a patrol deputy.
Permalink Reply by Davin Eshelman on February 3, 2011 at 5:33pm
Yes i do agree with you. But many people do have different opinions. To clear things up I am not a JR. anymore and has moved up on the ranks to a FF. I just need to edit my profile so people don't make that mistake anymore. Yes being on the fire side I don't pay attention to the inter - workings of the police agency.
Permalink Reply by Keith Simmons on February 4, 2011 at 8:39am
We have pretty good relationship with the officers in town. We are a completely volunteer department. Our officers block off the street on both ends of the block once we are on scene and then keep people out of our way. Our officers also give a really good scene size up for us before get onscene. I think we are really lucky.
Permalink Reply by Bradley Webb on February 5, 2011 at 9:50am
We've had problems of cops parking in the middle of the street thinking we were going to be coming from the opposite direction and then they end up being in the way. It's not a big deal, just get them to move and don't worry about it. You don't ever want to get a bad reputation with the cops because if it comes down to one day you needing them, wouldn't you rather have a good reputation with them? We had a fire not too long ago where the cops made a save. I don't know all the details because it wasn't in my area, but it was originally just an alarm and once PD got there they saw a lady running through her house on fire. They were able to put out the fire on the lady and make a save.

The only thing that really bugs me about PD sometimes is that they try to cancel us. We have had numerous times where there will be an MVA or an alarm or something and PD tries to cancel us before we get on scene. The PD don't know what to look for at an alarm. Fire may be traveling through the attic or vent system, you think a cop is going to get up there and check it? No.
Permalink Reply by Just Plain Craig Moyer on February 6, 2011 at 12:44am
We've had police park in front of hydrants, block roads and pretty much get in the way. It got so bad that there was a meeting with the state and county police and a policy was that officers park 100 yards away. I understand that they mean well but so does my 97 year old aunt when she tries to cook, good thnigs don't happen.

One good thing is that Delaware has the Chiefs Law that means anyone in the right hand seat is in charge of any emergency that they are dispatched on, accident, fires, hazmat what ever. It works because so far no one has gotten crazy and over stepped thier bounds.
Permalink Reply by Matthew Pierce on February 6, 2011 at 12:25pm
hahaha...that would b nice if they would

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