Hack v. Gillespie

The issue presented for our consideration concerns the liability of an owner of private property to a fire fighter who enters the premises and, while performing his official duties, suffers harm as a result of the condition of the premises. Specifically, we are asked to reexamine the rule in Ohio regarding a landowner’s liability to police officers and fire fighters, set forth in Scheurer, supra, and generally referred to as Ohio’s “Fireman’s Rule.”

The term “Fireman’s Rule,” which is used to include fire fighters and police officers, refers to a common-law doctrine originally formulated in…