Request By:
Mr. Jerrold T. Moore
Assistant Chief
Central City Fire Department
Central City, Kentucky
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Thomas R. Emerson, Assistant Attorney General
This is in reply to your letter asking who has control over an emergency scene where more than one organization rendering emergency services is present. You are apparently concerned with a situation where a fire is in progress, necessitating the presence of the fire department, and which also results in the appearance at the scene of the fire of police personnel and persons trained to perform rescue and first aid services.
In OAG 31-118, copy enclosed, at page three, we said:
"Although we can find neither a specific Kentucky statute nor a specific Kentucky case dealing with the question you have raised, it is our opinion, on the basis of the cases and authorities previously mentioned, that a homeowner has no authority to direct the activities of firemen who arrive on his property to fight a fire on the property. Firefighters in the pursuit of their duty do not need the owner's permission to enter upon his property. Firefighters owe a duty to the public and once they have arrived at the scene of a fire they control the efforts to extinguish the fire."
In
Anderson v. Cinnamon, Mo. 282 S.W.2d 445 (1955), the Court said in part as follows:
". . . Firemen are in a different class from licensees because their right to enter is independent of any permission of the possessor of the property, who has no right to exclude them, and some cases say they have a status sui generis.
Shypulski v. Waldorf Paper Products Co., 232 Minn. 394, 45 N.W. 2d 549;
Ryan v. Chicago & N.W. Ry. Co., 315 Ill. App. 65, 42 N.E. 2d 128. Nevertheless, the duty of a possessor of land to firemen is the same as to licensees, who enter with his permission, as the authorities hereinabove cited show. Firemen enter under a license given by law, primarily for the benefit of the public generally, although the possessor may also be benefitted by their work. . . ."
In 62 C.J.S. Municipal Corporations § 574 the following appears in connection with police officers.
"In addition to the powers expressly conferred on policemen, they have, by implication, such incidental powers as are necessary for the due and efficient exercise of those duties and powers expressly granted; and they also have presumptive rights, that is, such rights as police have exercised from time immemorial under circumstances causing people to suppose they possessed the power claimed. . . ."
The duties of police officers are discussed in 62 C.J.S. Municipal Corporations § 575:
"Policemen are guardians of public safety and are directly charged with the enforcement of the laws. Among the duties of police officers are the preventing of the commission of crime, assisting in the detection of crimes, and disclosing all information known to them which may lead to the apprehension and punishment of those who have transgressed the laws. It is also the duty of policemen to direct and regulate traffic. Reasonable discretion must be left to police officers in respect of performance of their duties."
Finally in City of Harlan v. Ford, Ky., 252 S.W.2d 684 (1952), the Court set forth the duties and responsibilities of police officers:
". . . In the course of good police practice it is necessary to respond to all calls of distress and to investigate all complaints by citizens of noisy, boisterous and unlawful conduct of whatever nature, and when called to a spot of danger, it is an officer's duty to investigate the trouble regardless of whether or not he may be personally harmed. . . ."
While there is no specific statute or Kentucky case dealing with the duties, responsibilities and control to be exercised by firefighters, policemen and rescue personnel where they all appear at the scene of an emergency, we think that any actual or potential problems among such organizations can be resolved through the exercise of cooperation, an understanding of the primary functions of each organization and the utilization of common sense. Each organization because of its training, experience, capabilities and historical functions is equipped to handle certain situations better than any of the other organizations. When a fire emergency arises the primary goal is the preservation of life and property and the elimination of the dangerous situation as soon as possible.
Once the firefighters have arrived at the scene of a fire they should control the efforts to extinguish the fire as they have a duty to the public generally in the performance of their obligation to suppress fires. Policemen at the scene of a fire should perform such activities as the directing of traffic, crowd control, area security, protection of the firefighters and other functions normally associated with law enforcement officers. The rescue squad personnel should engage in the rendering of first aid and life saving techniques to the extent that they are qualified by training and experience to do so and the transportation of the injured to medical facilities.