Kasson council asks attorney to review policy on firefighters using personal vehicles

Kasson City Council members debated whether to allow firefighters to use personal vehicles to respond to emergency calls and directed the city attorney to review the topic before the council takes formal action. The discussion centered on liability risks, recent incidents where firefighters arrived without personal protective equipment, and the League’s guidance against using personal vehicles for responses.

Mayor (speaker S1) framed the legal concern. "The bigger concern would be what if they got into an accident on their way to responding to a call in their personal vehicle," the Mayor said, noting that an insurer could still attempt to sue the city if a vehicle was damaged at a scene. The mayor also emphasized safety risks if responders arrive without protective gear: "Now if you're doing it and you don't have your PPE, now you've just created a liability for the city because you could get injured so easily."

Council member Tim (speaker S6) summarized the League’s rationale: "Once you're in a city vehicle you're on, you're doing your job — it becomes the city's responsibility. It's the city's liability and allowing people to use their own personal vehicle to get there…it blurs that line a bit and I think that's why the league does not recommend it." Other council members described practical exceptions—such as traffic control or crowd management—where a responder might arrive before gear does, and noted at least one recent chlorine leak at a well house where offsite responders did not have PPE.

Several members asked whether the city could adopt a signed policy or waiver to clarify responsibilities. Council member Paul (speaker S5) said a written agreement might help but flagged response-time concerns if members were required to return to the fire hall to pick up city vehicles: "I really don't like the idea of reducing our response time by forcing somebody to drive past the fire and then come back to it."

No formal ordinance or motion to ban personal-vehicle response was made. The council agreed with staff that the next step should be a legal review: Administrator Sheldon (speaker S2) said staff would ask the city attorney to evaluate liability and any policy options and report back to the council for further feedback.