Fire Services Act 1947

30 Powers of firemen and police in extinguishing fires. E+W+S

(1) Any member of a fire brigade maintained in pursuance of this Act who is on duty, any member of any other fire brigade who is acting in pursuance of any arrangements made under this Act, or any constable, may enter and if necessary break into any premises or place in which a fire has or is reasonably believed to have broken out, or any premises or place which it is necessary to enter for the purposes of extinguishing a fire or of protecting the premises or place from acts done for fire-fighting purposes, without the consent of the owner or occupier thereof, and may do all such things as he may deem necessary for extinguishing the fire or for protecting from fire, or from acts done as aforesaid, any such premises or place or for rescuing any person or property therein.

(2) Any person who wilfully obstructs or interferes with any member of a fire brigade maintained in pursuance of this Act who is engaged in operations for fire-fighting purposes shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding [F1 level 3 on the standard scale].

(3) At any fire the senior fire brigade officer present shall have the sole charge and control of all operations for the extinction of the fire, including the fixing of the positions of fire engines and apparatus, the attaching of hose to any water pipes or the use of any water supply, and the selection of the parts of the premises, object or place where the fire is, or of adjoining premises, objects or places, against which the water is to be directed.

(4) Any water undertakers shall, on being required by any such senior officer as is mentioned in the last preceding subsection to provide a greater supply and pressure of water for extinguishing a fire, take all necessary steps to enable them to comply with such requirement and may for that purpose shut off the water from the mains and pipes in any area; and no authority or person shall be liable to any penalty or claim by reason of the interruption of the supply of water occasioned only by compliance of the water undertakers with such a requirement.

[F2 (4A) Any water undertaker which, without reasonable excuse, fails to take any step which it is obliged to take by virtue of subsection (4) of this section shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.]

(5) The senior officer of police present at any fire, or in the absence of any officer of police the senior fire brigade officer present, may close to traffic any [F3 street][F3 road] or may stop or regulate the traffic in any [F3 street][F3 road] whenever in the opinion of that officer it is necessary or desirable to do so for fire-fighting purposes.

(6) In this section the expression “senior fire brigade officer present,” in relation to any fire, means the senior officer present of the fire brigade maintained in pursuance of this Act in the area in which the fire originates, or, if any arrangements or reinforcement scheme made under this Act provided that any other person shall have charge of the operations for the extinction of the fire, that other person.

F4 (7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Textual Amendments

F1 Words substituted by virtue of (E.W.) Criminal Justice Act 1982 (c. 48, SIF 39:1), ss. 39, 46, Sch. 3 and (S.) Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975 (c. 21, SIF 39:1), Sch. 7D and (S.)(1.4.1996) by 1995 c. 40, ss. 3, 6, Sch. 1 para. 10, Sch. 2 Pt. III, Sch. 5

F2 S. 30(4A) inserted (E.W.) by Water Act 1989 (c. 15, SIF 130), ss. 58(7), 101(1), 141(6), 160(1)(2)(4), 163, 189(4)–(10), 190(1), 193(1), Sch. 25 para. 9(5), Sch. 26 paras. 3(1)(2), 17, 40(4), 57(6), 58

F3 Word "road" substituted (S.) for "street" by Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 (c. 54, SIF 108), s. 156(1), Sch. 9 para. 34(4)

F4 S. 30(7) repealed by Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1989 (c. 43), s. 1(1), Sch. 1 Pt. XI