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Alameda Drowning Suit Filed
As the anniversary of the Memorial Day 2011 drowning of Raymond Zack approaches, his family filed a wrongful death suit against the city and county of Alameda. The suit was filed Friday in Alameda County Superior Court alleging that officials should have done more to help the 52 year old suicidal man. The action was brought by Bernice Jolliff and Robert Zack, the victim’s sister and brother. It alleges that city firefighters did not have a rescue boat and were unable to enter the water because they were not certified in land-water rescue. It also alleges that county dispatchers failed…
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Massachusetts Strong Chief Weak Chief Battle in Dighton
What role should politics play in the fire service? Now there’s a question for the ages! That question is at the heart of a law suit filed last week by Dighton Massachusetts Fire Chief Antone Roderick Jr. However the politicians in Dighton insist it’s got nothing to do with politics, it’s about “merit”. Every state has a few unique laws relating to the fire service, and Massachusetts is no exception. By state statute, Massachusetts has two types of fire chiefs, commonly referred to as strong chiefs and weak chiefs. The difference has to do with the mechanism available to local…
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Sacramento Explosion Suit Seeks Over $1 Million From Fire Department
A Sacramento homeowner whose vacant rental property was destroyed in a natural gas explosion in 2010, is suing the Sacramento City Fire Department for over $1 million. Christopher Liu’s property was destroyed on July 5, 2010 in an explosion that occurred as firefighters were entering the structure to investigate the source of a gas leak. Four firefighters were injured in the blast, three seriously. The leak was caused by a disgruntled neighbor, Robert W. Durst, who had previously done plumbing work for Liu. Drust was allegedly upset with Liu because Liu stiffed him $750 for the work. According to police,…
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The Discipline Debacle in DC
It is almost beyond belief, even for someone who lectures regularly on the subject of “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up”. A fire chief, Kenneth Ellerbe, disciplining two chief officers who serve as hearing officers – administrative fact finders – because the fire chief feels they did not properly issue the correct “recommendation” to him in two disciplinary cases arising out of the same incident… Really? Rather than rewrite the facts of the cases – Here are some links to the various stories – the Washington Times article does a great job of summarizing the facts. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/21/battalion-chief-slams-ellerbes-bullying/?page=1 http://statter911.com/2011/09/23/dc-fire-chief-kenneth-ellerrbe-shuts-fire-station-after-he-finds-case-of-beer-in-fridge-alcohol-tests-on-crew-negative/ http://www.wjla.com/articles/2011/09/beer-discovery-shuts-down-d-c-fire-station-66974.html http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/feb/20/harsh-action-against-dc-fire-official-for-light-di/?page=all http://www.wtop.com/?nid=41&sid=2756019…
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Fired Illinois Firefighter Sues Police for Wrongful Arrest
A terminated Illinois firefighter has filed a rather unusual lawsuit following his dismissal. He is not suing his former employer, but rather is suing another community and one of its police officers alleging that he lost his job due to an unlawful arrest and malicious prosecution. Justin Haskett, 26, was fired from the Mokena Fire Department following his arrest on June 19, 2011 for violation of a local public intoxication ordinance. At the time, Haskett was a probationary firefighter and had just proposed to his girlfriend at her house in the Village of Frankfurt. When a Village police officer responded…
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Florida Chief’s Credentials Questioned
A Florida fire chief is being investigated by the state fire marshal’s office to determine if his firefighter certification has lapsed. Fire Chief Ben Greenslait of the Freeport Fire Department is under scrutiny based on a complaint filed by his predecessor, former Fire Chief Wayne Charles. Chief Charles alleged that Chief Greenslait’s FF2 certification lapsed when he was inactive for over 3 years, and he should have been required to have taken a recertification exam when he was hired as fire chief back in 2008. In response to the controversy, Freeport Mayor Mickey Marse had some colorful comments. He was…
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Details Emerge on Paris Fire Brigade Sexual Hazing
The Paris, France Fire Brigade is reeling following the revelation that a recruit on the department’s elite gymnastics team had been sodomized and sexually assaulted by teammates. The incident allegedly occurred May 6, 2012 as the team was returning from a gymnastics event. On top of it all, the incident was recorded on a member’s cellphone. To put the incident into perspective, a bit of background on France’s largest fire department is in order. The Brigade des Sapeurs-Pompiers de Paris, (BSPP) is a military fire department, and the firefighters are active duty military personnel. France has obligatory military service and…
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Two Virginia Departments Victimized By Insider Theft
Two volunteer fire departments from Virginia are in the news today, both victims of insider theft by high ranking officials. In Louisa County, fire chief Mark McGheen of the Trevilans Volunteer Fire Department stands accused of embezzling thousands of dollars from the department. McGheen is a former Louisa police officer and served as the acting police chief at one time. In Hanover County, the treasurer of the Henry Volunteer Fire Department No. 6 has been arrested and charged with embezzling funds from the department. Officials in both jurisdictions have declined to say how much was involved in either case. More…
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Texas FD and E-One Liable in LODD Suit
The jury in the first of two wrongful death lawsuits brought against E-One, E-One dealer Hall Mark Fire Apparatus, and the Kilgore Fire Department has concluded that the defendants were jointly responsible for the 2009 deaths of Kyle Perkins and Cory Galloway. Perkins and Galloway were killed while training on January 25, 2009 with a 95 foot ladder tower on an 8 story building. The men were in the ladder’s bucket but were not wearing safety belts at the time. The platform became stuck against the roof of the building, and whiplashed violently when it broke free catapulting both men…
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Hazing Leads to Arrest of Three Firefighters in Vermont
It is an occurrence that has become all too familiar: a group of young firefighters set out with the intention of hazing a younger member, but in the end the hazers end up arrested. The latest occurrence was in Vermont involving members of the Hyde Park Town Fire Department and the North Hyde Park/Eden Fire Department. On March 23, 2012, Sydney Mclean-Lipinski, 25, Joshua Kapusta, 24, and Nate Jobe, 21, decided to haze a firefighter cadet by restraining him and shooting him with airsoft guns. According to Vermont State Police, the trio intended to “restrain the juvenile with handcuffs and…
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Country Club Sues US Forest Service Over Station Fire
A Los Angeles County golf course has filed suit against the US Forest Service for damage that resulted from firefighting efforts at the Station Fire in August 2009. The La Cañada Flintridge Country Club filed the suit in US District Court on Monday seeking $49,528.81 in damages. The Station Fire burned an estimated 160,000 acres, destroyed more than 200 buildings and killed 2 LA County firefighters. The country club alleges that US Forest Service helicopters used golf course ponds to refill their water tanks, and in the process damaged irrigation pumps and piping. The suit also seeks reimbursement for water…
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Baltimore Settles Fatal Accident Case from 2007
Today, the City of Baltimore settled a wrongful death suit brought by the estates of three people killed in a SUV that collided with a ladder truck in 2007. The accident occurred at 3:00 am on December 9, 2007, when Ladder 27 was responding to a report of smoke in an apartment building. It collided with an SUV killing Iryna Petrov, 49, her husband, Mikhail Petrov, 35, and Igor Saub, 24, and injuring all four of the firefighters aboard. Investigators concluded the ladder was traveling at 47 mph at the time, while the SUV was traveling at 23 mph. The…
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