Property Owner's Claim Goes Up in Flames
When Firefighters arrive on a scene to fight a fire or otherwise respond to an emergency situation, it sometimes becomes necessary for the firefighters to damage property belonging to more than one property owner. It is sometimes necessary to damage property that is in immediate risk of danger and sometimes also necessary to damage property that is nearby. In some instances, property owners have sought to hold the government responsible for damage that has been incurred as a result of actions by firefighters.
Strickland v. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services 31 Fla. L. Weekly D 541 (5th DCA, 2006) is a case where Mr. Strickland had sued the State seeking damages that were caused to his property while firefighters were attempting to extinguish one of many fires burning out of control in Central Florida during 1998. Mr. Strickland objected to claims from the State that it was immune from liability for claims relating to its firefighting activities. Alternatively, Mr. Strickland claimed that he should be compensated because his property was "taken" for a state purpose and he was not compensated as required by the United States and Florida Constitutions.
The appellate court held that the trial court was correct in dismissing Mr. Strickland's claims and reiterated a Supreme Court of Florida decision that held that a city would not be liable for the negligent decisions of its firefighters since the court would not allow itself to be put in a position of second guessing firefighters who make decisions concerning how to best combat a fire. The appellate court likewise disagreed with Mr. Strickland that his property was being taken without proper compensation. Even though the firefighters damaged trees, fencing and a dike on his property by creating a fire line on his property to prevent spread of the fire, the court held that the government's destruction of private property to prevent the spreading of a fire is not a taking in the constitutional sense. To prevent the spreading of a fire, the government may properly destroy property without compensation to the owner.
In the community association context, if the property of one homeowner or another is damaged as a result of the efforts of firefighters to control a fire either on the common properties or on the property of another lot owner, the State would not be responsible to those property owners for the damage incurred.
