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Incident · Traffic disruption

Waymo driverless car blocked San Francisco firefighters working a vehicle fire

The San Francisco Fire Department reported that on August 5, 2023 a driverless Waymo vehicle stopped and parked itself between a fire truck and a burning car near the Legion of Honor, forcing firefighters to walk around the vehicle with a charged hose line to reach the fire. Waymo states that its vehicles are designed to detect emergency vehicles and first responders and to yield. This record is attributed to the SFFD incident report as compiled by Mission Local and to Waymo.

Occurred 2023-08-05 · Waymo Driver (6th gen) at Sacramento, California, USA · Waymo · Sacramento, California, USA · Robotaxis

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Incident records on DEPLOY are compiled from public sources (regulatory filings, news reports, and operator disclosures) and reflect what has been reported and tracked to date. They are not legal findings, determinations of fault, or safety ratings, and may be updated as new information is verified. See the sources below for the underlying references.
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Sources (1)

  1. The 55 reports of robot cars interfering with the S.F. fire department · https://missionlocal.org/2023/08/cruise-waymo-autonomous-vehicle-robot-taxi-driverless-car-reports-san-francisco/

Common questions

What happened in Waymo driverless car blocked San Francisco firefighters working a vehicle fire?
The San Francisco Fire Department reported that on August 5, 2023 a driverless Waymo vehicle stopped and parked itself between a fire truck and a burning car near the Legion of Honor, forcing firefighters to walk around the vehicle with a charged hose line to reach the fire. Waymo states that its vehicles are designed to detect emergency vehicles and first responders and to yield. This record is attributed to the SFFD incident report as compiled by Mission Local and to Waymo.
When did this incident occur?
The incident is recorded as occurring on August 5, 2023 on the DEPLOY registry. The date reflects the underlying real-world event, not the registry record's creation date.
What robot was involved in Waymo driverless car blocked San Francisco firefighters working a vehicle fire?
Waymo Driver (6th gen) by Waymo is the recorded robot involved in this incident at Sacramento, California, USA.
Has anyone responded to Waymo driverless car blocked San Francisco firefighters working a vehicle fire?
No responses to this incident are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Operators, manufacturers, or affected parties can submit responses to the editorial team; absence is not a guarantee no response was issued.
What is the current status of Waymo driverless car blocked San Francisco firefighters working a vehicle fire?
This incident is an active record on the DEPLOY registry; no retraction or correction has been issued.
Methodology: Verified · 1 source (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-08-21

Verification posture

Verified

Low confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-08-21

Sources by quality tier

1
unclassified
Unclassified source

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Methodology surface for Waymo driverless car blocked San Francisco firefighters working a vehicle fire.

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Canonical ID bfc570bf-fddd-4b5c-85cd-905d82a1757c