6-21-703 - Emergency powers.
6-21-703. Emergency powers.
(a) When any fire department or company recognized as duly constituted by the commissioner of commerce and insurance pursuant to § 68-102-108 is requested to respond to a fire, hazardous materials incident, natural disaster, service call, or other emergency, it may, regardless of where the emergency exists, proceed to the emergency site by the most direct route at the maximum speed consistent with safety. While responding to, operating at, or returning from such emergency, the chief of the responding fire department or company, or any member serving in capacity of fire officer-in-charge, shall also have the authority to:
(1) Control and direct the activities at the scene of the emergency;
(2) Order any person or persons to leave any building or place in the vicinity of such scene for the purpose of protecting such person or persons from injury;
(3) Blockade any public highway, street or private right-of-way temporarily while at such scene;
(4) Trespass at any time of the day or night without liability while at such scene;
(5) Enter any building or premises, including private dwellings, where a fire is in progress, or where there is reasonable cause to believe a fire is in progress, for the purpose of extinguishing the fire;
(6) Enter any building or premises, including private dwellings, near the scene of the fire for the purpose of protecting the building or premises, or for the purpose of extinguishing the fire that is in progress in another building or premises;
(7) Inspect for preplanning all buildings, structures, or other places in the chief's fire district, except the interior of a private dwelling, where any combustible material, including waste paper, rags, shavings, waste, leather, rubber, crates, boxes, barrels, rubbish, or other combustible material that is or may become dangerous as a fire menace to such buildings, structures, or other places has been allowed to accumulate, or where such chief or the chief's designated representative has reason to believe that such combustible material has accumulated or is likely to accumulate;
(8) Direct without liability the removal or destruction of any fence, house, motor vehicle, or other thing, if such person deems such action necessary to prevent the further spread of the fire;
(9) Request and be furnished with additional materials or special equipment at the expense of the owner of the property on which the emergency occurs, if deemed necessary to prevent the further spread of the fire or hazardous condition; and
(10) Order disengagement or discouplement of any convoy, caravan, or train of vehicles, craft, or railway cars, if deemed necessary in the interest of safety of persons or property.
(b) When any fire department or company responds to any emergency outside its fire district, however, it shall at all times be subject to the control of the fire chief or designated representative in whose district the emergency occurs.
[Acts 1921, ch. 173, art. 19, § 3; Shan. Supp., § 1997a234; Code 1932, § 3632; Acts 1975, ch. 166, § 2; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 6-2135; Acts 1993, ch. 171, § 1.]