I love the different angle you've taken!

Let's assume that it only works with thin walls, so it has limited archaeology use. Firefighting is a very fair point.

Would you, reader, trust the firefighters to not abuse such a power by mistake? Would you trust the chance of it being abused for the chance of being rescued during a serious fire? Not an easy question.

You can put checks and balances in place. Firefighters have vehicles with ladders, but they don't drive up to houses and break-and-enter. If it can be made obvious when they're using it, and there's independent oversight, I think the trade-off is definitely worth it.