David Flowers, a volunteer fireman, sustained severe injuries when he fell twelve stories down an open elevator shaft while responding to a fire in an apartment building. Flowers sued the building owners, the apartment’s security guard company, and the elevator manufacturer, alleging in general a failure to maintain the property in a safe condition. The defendants demurred, contending that Flowers’s claim was barred by the so-called fireman’s rule. The Circuit Court for Prince George’s County (Bowen, J.) sustained the demurrers, and the Court of Special Appeals affirmed. We granted a petition for a writ of certiorari to consider the basis for and the scope of the fireman's rule.
I.
Rock Creek Terrace Limited Partnership owns Rock Creek Terrace Apartments, a high-rise residential apartment building located in Rockville, Maryland. Rock Creek employed Sting Security, Inc., to provide security services, including security guards, for the apartment building. The elevators in the apartment building were manufactured by Westinghouse Electric Corporation.
David Flowers was a fireman with the Kensington Volunteer Fire Department. On October 27,1981, Flowers and other members of the Kensington Volunteer Fire Department responded to a fire alarm at the Rock Creek Apartments. In the course of the fire, the twelfth-floor lobby became filled with smoke making it nearly impossible to see. As Flowers and other firefighters evacuated tenants *437 from apartments adjoining the twelfth-floor lobby, Flowers fell down an open elevator shaft and sustained severe permanent injuries.
Flowers filed a sixteen-count declaration in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County against Rock Creek, 1 Westinghouse, Sting Security, and Larry W. Cline, a Sting Security employee. Flowers asserted negligence, statutory liability, nuisance, breach of warranty, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, negligence by a common carrier, and strict liability. In substance Flowers advanced four factual bases for liability: that Rock Creek and Sting Security knew of prior suspicious fires and failed to take any measures to prevent future fires, that Rock Creek failed to adopt reasonable safety precautions, including the installation of smoke detectors and sprinklers, that Rock Creek and Westinghouse installed an elevator system which was not sufficiently fire proof, and that Rock Creek, Sting Security, and Westinghouse failed to warn Flowers of the open elevator shaft. The defendants demurred on the ground that the fireman’s rule “precludes recovery by an injured fireman when his injuries arise out of the very occasion for his employment (i.e., heat, smoke and the dangers encountered in fighting a fire) or when he is exposed to those elements by perils which are a part of the risks he faces when he fights a fire.” The defendants argued that they owed no duty of care to firemen engaged in the performance of their duties, and that Flowers had admitted in his allegations that he was a fireman injured in the performance of his duties.
In response to the defendants’ position that they owed him no duty of care, Flowers first contended that he was entitled to due care because he was injured in the common area. Flowers relied on the Restatement of Torts (2nd), *438 § 345, which requires the possessor of land to exercise reasonable care for public officers or employees who enter any part of the land held open to the public. 2 Next, Flowers argued that Rock Creek and Sting Security owed him a duty of reasonable care because they had summoned the fire department and knew of the suspicious nature of this and previous fires at Rock Creek. Flowers stated that the
“plaintiff was called to the premises to fight the fire by the defendants. That is, the defendants specifically invited the plaintiff to come onto its premises, asked the plaintiff to perform a service there, and in all means consented to the plaintiffs presence on the premises at the time the plaintiff was injured. At that time, the defendants had reason to believe that there had been a number of fires in this apartment building, had reason to believe that the fires were of a dangerous nature, and had ample opportunity to take steps to prevent such fires. Due to this knowledge on behalf of the defendants, the express consent of the defendants, and the inviting of the plaintiff by the defendants to come upon the premises, the plaintiff should be afforded the status of invitee.”
In ruling against Flowérs, the trial court indicated that the case should not turn “on any distinction of status and concepts of property.” Instead, the court sustained the demurrers because Flowers was injured while “in the process of fighting the fire.” The circuit court recognized that
*439
the results may have been different if Flowers’s injuries had occurred apart from firefighting, but held that, under the allegations, the injuries occurred in the course of fighting the fire. Flowers appealed to the Court of Special Appeals. In
Flowers v. Sting Security, Inc.,
Subsequently, we granted Flowers’s petition for a writ of certiorari which in substance set forth the following questions: (1) whether the fireman’s rule should continue to be based on principles defining the liability of landowners and occupiers or should be grounded in public policy based on the services fire and police officers perform which include confronting certain risks on behalf of the public; (2) whether the circuit court properly granted defendants’ demurrers in light of the facts alleged by the plaintiff.
II.
The history of the fireman’s rule in Maryland is like that in many other states. Earlier cases in this country involving firemen’s attempts to recover for negligently caused injuries sustained while firefighting largely focused on the status of the firemen on the premises where the injuries occurred. These cases indicated that firemen came upon the premises under a privilege conferred by legal authority, and, not being invited by the landholder, took the property as they found it. Later cases, while still sounding in premises liability law, recognized that it is a fireman’s job to fight fires, and as such he normally takes the risk of fire-related injuries which may be attributable to the landowner or occupier’s negligence. Thus, whether purporting to apply premises liability law, or under a rationale based on the relationship between firemen and the public whom they serve, courts held that landowners and occupiers ordinarily owed firemen no duty of reasonable care.
*440
The Court of Appeals of Maryland considered for the first time the duty owed to a firefighter in
Steinwedel v. Hilbert,
“according to the great weight of authorities the general rule of common law is that a fireman entering premises to put out fire is a licensee only, and not an invitee, and that the owner or occupant of the premises is not under any duty of care to keep his premises prepared and safe for a fireman.”
The Court went on to note that a fireman “ ‘is entitled only not to be led into danger, “something like fraud.” ’ ”
Id.
at 124,
More recently this Court examined the duty owed to a fireman in
Aravanis v. Eisenberg,
In the course of addressing the plaintiff’s claim of elevated status, the Court in the
Aravanis
case pointed out the nature of services performed by firemen (
“When a fire department is called to fight a blaze, the cause of the blaze is immaterial. It may be the result of *442 actual negligence on the part of the property owner, such as the dropping of a lighted match, or of his negligence in the maintenance of his property, as in permitting a known defective condition of the wiring to remain uncorrected. In either case, if the fireman is injured by the flames or gases of the conflagration, apart from unusual factors operative after the fire has begun, he can not recover. Fighting the fire, however caused, is his occupation. Compensation for injuries sustained in the fulfilment of his duties, absent other circumstances, is the obligation of society.”
Thus, although the
Aravanis
decision purported to be grounded on the law of landowner’s liability and the status of the plaintiff on the premises, the Court recognized the implications of a fireman’s public function regardless of whether he was classified as a licensee or invitee upon the property. The Court went on to note that a fireman’s occupation does not involve facing unlimited risks on behalf of the public
(id.
at 252,
“It is when the fireman sustains injuries after the initial period of his anticipated occupational risk, or from perils not reasonably foreseeable as part of that risk, that the justice of continuing to regard him as a licensee only is questioned.”
This Court addressed the matter most recently in
Sherman v. Suburban Trust Co.,
“Sherman was injured during, and not after, the initial period of his anticipated occupational risk, and from a hazard reasonably foreseeable as a part of that risk. He was not injured by reason of any active dangerous force unleashed on the premises after he entered upon the routine performance of his duties.” Id. at 246,384 A.2d 76 .
In sum, under the foregoing cases, the owner or occupant of the premises is not under a duty of care to keep the premises prepared and safe for a fireman. The owner or occupant of the premises must, however, abstain from willful or wanton misconduct or entrapment. This encompasses a duty to warn of hidden dangers, where there was knowledge of such danger and an opportunity to warn. Additionally, in some circumstances, when a fireman is outside of the anticipated occupational risk of fighting a fire he may be entitled to ordinary due care.
The above-cited Maryland cases, in our opinion, applied the proper standard of care owed to firemen and policemen, and the decisions were correct. Nevertheless, the use of a premises liability rationale would not seem to be entirely appropriate for resolving the issues in cases like this. A premises liability rationale does not encompass cases in which a fireman is injured by a fire caused by the negligence of someone other than the owner or occupier of the premises. In the present case, Westinghouse and Sting *444 Security are not landowners or occupiers but have invoked the fireman’s rule. In addition, other public employees, such as postmen and building inspectors, are generally held to be entitled to due care even though their counterparts in the fire and police departments are not. 5 Nevertheless, postal workers and building inspectors, like firemen and policemen, often enter land pursuant to legal authority rather than expressed invitation. Nothing in traditional premises liability law, however, furnishes a ground for classifying some of these public employees as invitees and others as licensees. Moreover, although prior cases sounding in premises liability law had begun to define the extent to which firemen are deemed to anticipate certain occupational risks, the premises liability rationale itself does not provide a basis for delimiting the duties owed to firemen. Instead, it is an analysis of the relationship between firemen and the public whom they serve which best explains the fireman’s rule.
Courts in other states have also questioned whether premises liability law is an adequate basis for the fireman’s rule. Most have concluded that firemen do “not fit comfortably within the traditional concepts” of landowner liability.
Krauth v. Geller,
With few exceptions, courts elsewhere have retained the fireman’s rule but have based the rule on public policy considerations.
6
Some of these courts emphasize a public policy somewhat analogous to the assumption of risk doctrine applied in negligence cases. Firemen are engaged by the public to encounter risks inherent in firefighting; they assume those risks, and therefore they should not recover for fire-related injuries. A leading case discussing this rationale for the fireman’s rule is
Krauth v. Getter, supra,
“The rationale of the prevailing rule is sometimes stated in terms of ‘assumption of risk/ used doubtless in the so-called ‘primary’ sense of the term and meaning that the defendant did not breach a duty owed, rather than that the fireman was guilty of contributory fault in responding to his public duty.... Stated affirmatively, what is meant is that it is the fireman’s business to deal with that very hazard and hence, perhaps by analogy to the contractor engaged as an expert to remedy dangerous situations, he cannot complain of negligence in the creation of the very occasion for his engagement. In terms of duty, it may be said there is none owed the fireman to exercise care so as not to require the special services for *446 which he is trained and paid. Probably most fires are attributable to negligence, and in the final analysis the policy decision is that it would be too burdensome to charge all who carelessly cause or fail to prevent fires with the injuries suffered by the expert retained with public funds to deal with those inevitable, although negligently created, occurences.”
See Walters v. Sloan,
Many cases emphasize a public policy derived from the unique relationship between firefighters and the public. The courts reason that firemen cannot recover for negligence in starting fires because it is precisely their duty to take all reasonable measures to protect lives and property from fires.
Pottebaum v. Hinds, supra,
In addition, some courts have pointed out that firemen receive compensation, such as salary, workers’ compensation, and special injury compensation, to fight fires for the public, and that taxpayers should not have to pay such moneys for the firefighting service and then be subject to liability if they call upon the service.
See Walters v. Sloan, supra,
We agree that the fireman’s rule is best explained by public policy. As pointed out in
Aravanis v. Eisenberg, supra,
We reiterate, however, that firemen and policemen are not barred from recovery for all improper conduct. Negligent acts not protected by the fireman’s rule may include failure to warn the firemen of pre-existing hidden dangers where there was knowledge of the danger and an opportunity to warn.
7
They also may include acts which occur subsequent to the safety officer’s arrival on the scene and which are outside of his anticipated occupational hazards. As indicated by this Court in
Aravanis,
the fireman’s rule should not apply “when the fireman sustains injuries after the initial period of his anticipated occupational risk, or from perils not reasonably foreseeable as part of that risk,”
III.
Turning to Flowers’s allegations, we agree with the circuit court and the Court of Special Appeals that this action was precluded by the fireman’s rule.
In count I Flowers alleged that Sting Security was negligent in “not hiring sufficient personnel to maintain proper and adequate security for the premises,” in failing “to properly maintain and operate the television surveillance system [and] to close off and lock the service elevator during the evening hours,” and in “failing and neglecting to provide proper supervision over its employees to prevent persons on the premises from being exposed to dangers of misconduct ... of its employees or others.” In count II Flowers asserted that Larry W. Cline (allegedly the Sting Security guard on duty during the fire) negligently failed “to take such measures and care, including warnings and *450 the provision of security ... calculated to provide safe and appropriate conditions on the premises for persons lawfully there” and failed “to refrain from engaging in conduct which would allow the initiation of a fire.” Count III asserted that Sting Security was “strictly liable” for the alleged conduct of its employees. Counts IV and VI charged that Rock Creek “knew that there had been numerous fires of a suspicious nature at the premises which were believed to have been deliberately set” and failed “to provide adequate security measures to prevent similar conflagrations.” Counts IV and VI also alleged that Rock Creek “failed to provide smoke detectors, sprinklers, and other safety apparatus in the common areas of its premises.” Counts V and VII charged Rock Creek with failing “to take adequate and reasonable measures to prevent fires on its premises, thereby creating and maintaining a public nuisance.” In count XVI, the plaintiff alleged that Rock Creek was strictly liable for “maintaining abnormally dangerous things on the premises” including gasoline and other combustible materials.
The common denominator of the above-summarized counts is the allegation of negligence or other fault in causing or failing to prevent the fire which ultimately led to Flowers’s injury. Recovery for this type of tortious conduct is precisely what the fireman’s rule prevents. As previously discussed, firemen are engaged to fight fires for the public, and they enter upon dangerous circumstances without regard to whether the fire is attributable to otherwise tortious conduct. These claims sounding in negligence or strict liability in failing to prevent the fire are barred by the fireman’s rule. 10
*451 Count VIII charged Westinghouse with negligence in the design, manufacture and sale of the elevator system installed in the Rock Creek apartment building, and counts IX, X and XVI asserted that Westinghouse was liable for the allegedly dangerous and defective elevator system on breach of warranty and strict products liability theories. Flowers claimed the “elevator had inadequate fire proofing, including its doors or guards; did not have fireproofed braking apparatus, including fireproofed hoist cables, emergency cables, and/or governing cables; ... did not have a warning that the elevator was not fire proof and could fail in the event of a fire.” Counts XI, XII, XIII and XIV alleged fraud and negligent misrepresentation by Rock Creek and Westinghouse for representing to Flowers “that the premises, including the operation and use of the elevator located thereon, were reasonably safe to the Plaintiff.”
All of these allegations reflect the theory that Westinghouse and Rock Creek owed a duty to Flowers to maintain a reasonably fireproofed elevator system and to warn of potential malfunctions of the elevators in the event of a fire. Although these are not allegations of negligence in the creation of the fire that originally brought the firemen to the apartment building, an accident involving an open elevator shaft nevertheless is within the range of the anticipated risks of firefighting.
See Steinwedel v. Hilbert, supra,
In count XV, Flowers asserted that Rock Creek and Westinghouse owed a duty of care like that of a common carrier because they provided, maintained, and operated elevators at the apartment building. But the higher duty a common carrier owes extends only to its passengers.
Sheridan v. Balto. & Ohio R. Co.,
JUDGMENTS AFFIRMED, WITH COSTS.
Notes
. Included as defendants in Flowers’s declaration and referred to collectively in this opinion as “Rock Creek” are various persons or entities associated with Rock Creek Terrace Limited Partnership, such as general partners, limited partners, and an affiliated apartment management company.
. § 345 reads as follows:
"§ 345. Persons Entering in the Exercise óf a Privilege
(1) Except as stated in Subsection (2), the liability of a possessor of land to one who enters the land only in the exercise of a privilege, for either a public or a private purpose, and irrespective of the possessor’s consent, is the same as the liability to a licensee.
(2) The liability of a possessor of land to a public officer or employee who enters the land in the performance of his public duty, and suffers harm because of a condition of a part of the land held open to the public, is the same as the liability to an invitee.
Comment c to § 345, however, recognizes an exception for firemen and policemen, stating that they “are commonly held by the courts to stand on the same footing as licensees.”
. It is difficult to ascertain what negligent conduct allegedly occurred after Aravanis had begun fighting the fire. Although it seems that Eisenberg’s improper storage of acetone caused the fire in the first instance and would not be a subsequent act of negligence, the Court noted,
. All courts addressing the issue have taken the position that the standard of care owed to firemen applies equally to policemen.
See Sherman v. Suburban Trust Co.,
.
See, e.g., Sutton v. Penn,
. Cases in two jurisdictions have rejected the fireman’s rule and allow policemen and firemen to recover against those who fail to exercise reasonable care.
Kreski v. Modern Wholesale Elec. Supply Co.,
.
See, e.g., Lipson v. Superior Court of Orange County,
. Courts have often applied these principles to find that various fact situations are outside of the fireman's rule. Without intimating any agreement or disagreement with the results in particular cases, some examples are
Garcia v. City of South Tucson,
.
See, e.g., Grable v. Varela,
In the case at bar, although the declaration referred to prior fires of "suspicious” origin at the apartment building, there was no allegation that the fire giving rise to this lawsuit was intentionally started.
. The fact that an asserted basis for recovery may be couched in terms of strict liability rather than negligence does not, in itself, render the fireman’s rule inapplicable.
Lipson v. Superior Court of Orange County,
. But
cf. Jackson v. Velveray Corp.,
82 N.J.Super 469,
. Flowers in his brief also makes the bald assertion that the fireman’s rule violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Article 24 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights, because there is no rational basis to distinguish him from other citizens. The previously discussed public policies underlying the fireman’s rule, however, provide a rational basis for distinguishing firemen and public safety officers from other citizens.