TX: Fire Dept called for police after discovery of drugs and guns; SW based on initial observations valid, narcotics officer’s later observations stricken but leaving PC

The Fire Department responded to a kitchen fire in defendant’s apartment, and they saw drugs, paraphernalia, and firearms inside. They called the police for a safety check. The officer responding didn’t know about their seeing drugs when he first arrived. His entry was still within the exigency of the immediate aftermath of the fire. The first officer called a narcotics officer who came, made observations, and then got a search warrant. The court of appeals holding that the officer would “stand in the shoes of the firefighters” is rejected. The drug officer’s entry was not in response to the fire. Her observations are stricken from the search warrant affidavit, and the remainder leaves probable cause for the search warrant based on the first officer’s observations. Martin v. State, 2021 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 330 (Apr. 14, 2021), rev’g Martin v. State, 576 S.W.3d 818 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 2019).