Fire reports may be viewed by which groups?

• A. Only department personnel
• B. General public
• C. Only insurance investigators
• D. Only attorneys

Answer: (B)

Fire incident reports are typically public records. The idea behind this is transparency and accountability: the community has a right to know what happened and how the response was handled. Because of that, these reports may be viewed by the general public, not just department personnel. You can usually request a copy from the fire department’s records division, though some information may be redacted to protect privacy or because an investigation is ongoing. While insurance investigators and attorneys can obtain copies when they have a legitimate need, the general public has access as well.