Something that can make every firefighter cringe: people parking in front of fire hydrants. We all know you're not allowed to park in front of fire hydrants, in most states it is illegal. Every year there is a car on the news parked in front of a fire hydrant that the fire department had no choice but to put the fire hose through the car's windows in order to put out a fire. Even with photos and public service announcements, it is still happening.
Who is responsible? Most will say the vehicle owner is responsible. The firefighters have no other choice in order to put out the fire in an emergency situation. However, there still seems to be debate about this topic. There are also questions as to whether the hydrant parker's insurance will cover the broken window.
But couldn't they just run the hose OVER the car? In short, no. The hoses used by fire departments have a good chance of becoming kinked if ran over the car. Wasting this kind of time during an emergency to un-kink a hose can be detrimental. This will risk not being able to put out the fire and that is not an option.
The safest way to avoid this is to simply never park in front of a fire hydrant. Whether you will be gone 1 minute or 1 hour, just don't do it.
Sources:
"Hydrant parker in Omaha gets hosed & more"