During a fast-moving wildfire that threatens an entire neighborhood, a firefighter commandeers a privately owned bulldozer parked on the owner's land and uses it to cut a firebreak. The maneuver stops the flames but leaves the bulldozer badly damaged. The owner sues the firefighter for trespass and for the cost of repairing the bulldozer. Can the firefighter defeat both claims?
No. The firefighter had to obtain the owner's permission before entering the land or using the bulldozer.
Yes. Emergency-responder immunity statutes automatically bar all civil claims in public-safety crises.
No. The firefighter must pay for the damage because the privilege applies only if the owner personally benefits.
Yes. Public-necessity privilege allows reasonable use or destruction of private property to avert a community-wide danger, eliminating liability for both trespass and damage.
Yes. Under the common-law privilege of public necessity, a person-especially a public official-may intentionally enter or use another's property, and even damage or destroy it, when reasonably necessary to avert an imminent public disaster. The privilege is complete: it bars liability for both trespass and the resulting property damage, so long as the response is reasonable. The distractor stating that owner permission was required is wrong because necessity supplies a privilege even without consent. The distractor relying on blanket statutory immunity confuses the common-law privilege with separate legislative immunities that may or may not exist. The distractor asserting that the firefighter must compensate the owner describes the rule for private, not public, necessity, and therefore is incorrect here.
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