El Paso business owner stuck with bill after letting firefighters destroy wall to rescue man

EL PASO, Texas -- An El Paso business owner who let firefighters knock down a portion of wall to save a life will have to pay for the damage himself. The city of El Paso has denied his reimbursement claim.

"If I had to do it all over again. I would do the same thing," said Joe Olivas, owner of RJ Typesetters, Inc. "I would not hesitate or ask them, 'Who's gonna foot the bill?', because it was an individual that was in harm's way."

On August 17 a man became stuck between two buildings. One of those buildings belonged to Olivas; the other building was a bar. Firefighters who reached out to Olivas in the middle of the night told Olivas knocking down part of his business's wall was the only way to set the man free.

The man was rescued and carried out on a stretcher. Olivas said the fire department did an excellent job.

However, Olivas feels he's out two-thousand dollars for doing what he felt was doing the right thing.

"What's fair, not to me but anybody else who's in this situation," said Olivas. "if they're going to help an individual, whoever is responsible should take care of the bill."

A document sent to Olivas from the office of the city attorney states "…it is the determination of this office that the city of El Paso is not liable, directly or indirectly, for this claim."