What must be present for negligence to have been found?

• A. Duty to act
• B. Breach of duty
• C. Injury or loss
• D. All of the above

Answer: (D)

Negligence is established only when each required element is present: there is a duty to act, that duty is breached, and harm (injury or loss) occurs as a result. In the fire service context, duty means standing expectations to follow training, policies, and standard procedures. Breach means failing to meet that standard—acting in a way that falls short of what’s required. Injury or loss means there is actual damage or harm resulting from that breach. Causation also ties the breach to the harm, so the breach must be shown to have caused the injury, though the options here focus on the three listed elements.

Because all of these elements need to be present to prove negligence, the best choice is the one that includes all of them. If any one element is missing, negligence cannot be found.