SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – A TV news crew is facing criminal action from the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office after allegedly bringing a civilian into private property at the McKinney Fire.
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On Monday, Siskiyou County Sheriff Deputies said that they had come into contact with members of the media who were on private property inside the McKinney Fire evacuation area — a raging 58,668-acre wildfire in Northern California that is only 10% contained.
According to claims by the sheriff's office, the crew had escorted a civilian into the evacuation zone inside their news van, which officials called an "unlawful abuse of press privileges."
The private property that the crew had allegedly invaded upon was a home that had not yet been processed by investigators and search teams. It was later discovered that a person was dead on the property. The sheriff's office accused the media of televising the information before proper law enforcement could process the scene and notify the family. "This is unacceptable and disrespectful to fire victims and their families and will NOT be tolerated," sheriff's office wrote.
Under California Penal Code 409.5, press is granted unlimited access to scenes of a disaster, riot or civil disturbance, however this does not include crime scenes. The code also excludes media from entering locations that interfere with incident operations.
"Because the cause and origin of the fire are still under investigation, the area affected by the McKinney Fire is being treated as a CRIME SCENE to secure and preserve the area for investigators and protect any potential evidence," the sheriff's office said.
The Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office did not name the news agency at the heart of the claims, but SFGATE reported that it was an ABC News crew.
According to the website, on Tuesday, ABC News aired a clip of chief national correspondent Matt Gutman with a Siskiyou County resident, walking around the remains of a home that she said was her uncle's property.
In response to the allegations, Vice President of Publicity for ABC News Van Scott issued a statement, obtained by KRCR-TV. "Officials gave ABC News permission to cross the fire line. A resident gave us permission to be on the property where the house had burned down. As soon as the residents discovered the body, our team notified law enforcement," Scott said.
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