Copyright CBS News
A new bill approved by the Baltimore City Council on Monday will make emergency and fire scenes safer. The bill allows emergency responders to set up a perimeter around the scene to prohibit anyone from entering, including restoration crews at active fires. Councilwoman Odette Ramos led the bill which prohibits unauthorized people from entering an emergency scene, including fires. The bill now heads to Mayor Brandon Scott's desk for his signature. Platinum Emergency Services was at Monday's meeting, but refused to speak with WJZ after the bill was approved. Ramos also expects Maryland's General Assembly to take up a similar issue when the 2026 Legislative Session begins. What does the bill protect? This protection is like those already in place for crime scenes, keeping first responders safe and protecting victims from solicitation. Ramos said this bill was inspired by the Keswick Road community, who was hit again by a devastating fire in May. "I think that people are do not like being approached in a in a predatory and harassing way, particularly when they're going through a crisis," Ramos said. Jeremy Olsen, who lost his home during a fire on Keswick Road in October 2024, accused the companies of being predatory, trying to solicit his business while his home was still on fire. Olsen believes this bill is important to protect victims when they are in the middle of a crisis. "You're literally at your worst moment in your life, and you're trying to think, and exist," Olsen said. Pushing away "predatory companies" Olsen knows what it's like to have his life change in an instant. His home caught on fire in October 2024 during the same blaze that killed a married couple and displaced dozens of neighbors. "While my house was on fire, while my family was sitting on the ground, I remember a gentleman was foisting a card in my wife's face, saying, 'We can board your house up'," Olsen said. Olsen said he ended up working with a restoration company to board up his home, but in the aftermath, it was broken into by thieves. He said he doesn't want another person to deal with a situation like this. "This bill is not a direct attack against your company and your service, I think it's more of a buffer," Olsen said. "If this bill can save anybody the trauma that I went through with these predatory companies, that means the world to me."
