But as I’ve noted, it seems to me (and I acknowledge I’m not a fire fighter) that it could have been routed over the bonnet. Alternatively the brigade could have broken into the car and moved it out of the way. To put that in the context of the photo, if that happened in NSW and there was no other way to route the hose then so be it. So where there’s a power to knock down a wall, the owner cannot complain, nor can the owner of property that the wall falls onto unless they can show there was a way to bring the wall down that was reasonably open and would not have damaged their property ( Vaughan v Webb (1902) 2 SR(NSW) 293). The law says that when a parliament grants a power under statute it’s expected to be used and there can be no liability for doing what the Parliament authorised if the damage done was necessary. The critical issues here are that the action is necessary to take action to control the fire or the hazardous materials incident. There is no reference to the geographic limit, ie how close the car or other property has to be near the fire. Finally the “officer in charge … may cause to be removed any … vehicle … the presence of … which … in the officer’s opinion, interfere with the work of any fire brigade or the exercise of any of the officer’s functions” (s 19). The Fire Brigades Act 1989 (NSW) s 13 says that the officer in charge, at the scene of a fire, “may take such measures as the officer thinks proper for the protection and saving of life and property and for the control and extinguishing of the fire.” Further, the “officer in charge may, to control, extinguish or prevent the spread of the fire, cause … a vehicle to be removed or destroyed …” (s 16). Putting the hose on the bonnet may have damaged the car but that would be justified and lawful, I’m not so sure about putting it through the window. The hose could have been routed across the bonnet or even between the two parked cars. That’s an amusing photo, but one has to think that was malicious rather than necessary. “What rights do fire fighters have do damage property that isn’t directly involved in a fire or other emergency? I do understand we can damage property if it is involved or at threat but like this picture below what about a vehicle halfway down the block.” A friend and retained firefighter with Fire and Rescue NSW asked: This could appear as a comment to my previous post on parking in front of a fire hydrant, but I couldn’t then add the photo, below.
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