At a fire in Bavaria, the law names the person in charge before anyone arrives. Under Article 18 of the Bavarian Fire Brigade Act, the Einsatzleiter, the incident commander, is the commander of the local fire brigade. When the town’s professional fire brigade arrives, its leader takes over. When senior fire officers responsible for the area arrive, the highest-ranking of them may take over. The law also settles a tie. Bei gleichem Rang entscheidet die Zuständigkeit für den Schadensort. With equal rank, responsibility for the place of the incident decides. In a company with its own fire brigade, the head of that brigade leads. The incident commander’s power reaches beyond the fire brigade. He may call on people to help for up to three days, when this is absolutely necessary to avert a present danger to the public. He may also require owners to provide vehicles, water and other things needed to fight the fire.