Private Bridge

Provide notification to residents and property owners that live in a service restricted area.

 As an emergency service organization, there is an implied public reliance on your ability to respond promptly and adequately to fire and like emergencies. Should you have a known problem or obstruction which would impede your ability to respond promptly or adequately you should take steps to alert those affected so that they may either take steps to remedy the problem or advise you that they are willing to accept these conditions.

It was indicated that there is a privately-owned bridge that provides access to an area in your service region that you cannot respond with full size fire apparatus. Privately-owned/constructed bridges   may present a number of exposures including but not limited to:

• Unknown load and width limitations which would greatly inhibit your department's ability to fight a structure fire in this
• Potential collapse of the bridge causing damage and/or injury to your equipment and or personnel.
• Inability to provide fire suppression or a full complement of firefighting capability for structures and residents on the private side of the
• Your organization could be held liable for damages you may cause to the bridge if you drive on it to respond into the

In order to reduce your liability because of these or other limitations your organizations should formally notify the residents and owners that fire protection is limited or restricted in their region. VFIS recommends that your organization distribute a formal, written notification to the residents and property owners in the area affected advising them of the problems that you face in service delivery and what potential risks are associated with those problems If possible you should provide suggestions to those affected for eliminating or reducing these risks.

Prior to distribution of this notification, a draft should be reviewed by your organization's legal counsel.

Providing a hold harmless agreement for Private Bridges

It was indicated that in your service area there are privately owned bridges which are the sole means of access to parts of your response district. There are a number of issues with regard to private bridges that your organization should be concerned with. They include but are not limited to the following:

• Unknown safe maximum weight
• Unknown engineering information and design data
• Unsafe width(s)
• Non-Standard surface coverings
• Subject to flooding

To help protect your organization from incidents or damage which may occur on these privately-owned bridges during your usage, VFIS recommends that you draft a letter to the bridge owner(s) and indicate to them the question, concern or problem that your ESQ has with the bridge.

Additionally, the letter should contain a hold harmless agreement indicating that you will not be held responsible for any damage occurring to the bridge. Your legal counsel should review this document prior to distribution. You should request a signed copy of the letter be returned to your organization and the letter should be delivered via registered mail to the bridge owner to provide proof of the notification.