# Caneyville Volunteer Fire Department v. Green's Motorcycle Salvage, Inc.

> Kentucky Supreme Court · June 25, 2009 · 286 S.W.3d 790

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9676491

## Case

- **Full name:** CANEYVILLE VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT, Et Al., Appellants, v. GREEN’S MOTORCYCLE SALVAGE, INC., Et Al., Appellees
- **Court:** Kentucky Supreme Court
- **Decided:** June 25, 2009
- **Citations:** 286 S.W.3d 790; 2009 Ky. LEXIS 158; 2009 WL 1819486
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Venters
- **Judges:** Scott, Venters, Minton, Cunningham, Schroder, Abramson, Noble
- **Cited by:** 72 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9676491

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- explaining how qualified official immunity applies to a fire chief sued in his personal capacity for his official actions which include, pursuant to KRS 75.070(1), the provision of emergency services
- finding that the exercise of professional judgment is more likely to be a discretionary act

## Opinion text

VENTERS, Justice,
Concurring:
I concur with Justice Scott’s opinion. At the risk of extending an already lengthy series of opinions, I submit that regardless of the immunity issue the Ap-pellee’s complaint does not state a claim for which relief may be granted. Its only basis for asserting liability is the claim that Appellants negligently “failed to expeditiously extinguish the fire” at Appellee’s business. We are informed by Appellee’s counsel at oral argument that the only act or omission of the Caneyville VFD deemed negligent by Appellees was that it lacked sufficient manpower and equipment to defeat the blaze. The same could be said of *813 any fire department at any fire where property is damaged. There is no allegation that members of the Caneyville VFD caused any injury or damage to Appellee, beyond that damage caused by the fire. A fire department does not insure property owners from fire losses, and it has no duty to a property owner to save his property. The record before us consists of nothing more than the complaint, the motion to dismiss, the trial court’s ruling, and the appellate pleadings. No answer was even filed. We should not scrap the jural rights doctrine or undertake a major re-evaluation of governmental immunity on what I perceive is an insufficient claim and an exceedingly sparse record. A fire department is not liable for failing, due to its lack of equipment and manpower, to “expeditiously extinguish the fire.”

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9676491. Public record. Not legal advice.