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Father of Children Lost in Connecticut Fire Accuses City of Destroying Evidence
Today’s Burning Question: We are at the scene of a fatal fire that claimed the lives of five people. The building is unsafe and needs to be knocked down. Can we order the building to be demolished? Answer: The authority to demolish fire damaged property is usually determined quite simply by researching state and local law. We now have to add a relatively new consideration: spoliation, and our potential liability for the destruction of evidence relevant to a possible legal proceeding. In Stamford, Connecticut, the father of three young girls killed in a house fire on Christmas morning, 2011, announced…
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Honolulu Captain Claims Whistleblower Violation
A veteran fire captain on the Honolulu Fire Department has filed suit against Fire Chief Kenneth Silva and the department alleging he was retaliated against for raising concerns about a fatal fire. Captain George Kaopuiki filed suit last week in state Circuit Court alleging that his suspension and transfer were in violation of his free speech rights under the Federal and state constitutions and violate the Hawaii Whistleblowers’ Protection Act. Captain Kaopuiki raised the concerns following a fire that claimed the life of 77-year old Karen Chikamori on December 14, 2011. Captain Kaopuiki found Chikamori and brought her out of…
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Massachusetts Court Strikes Down Local Ordinance Requiring Radio Boxes
Today’s burning question: Can a fire department require commercial buildings to have a municipally connected fire alarm system that uses a radio box? Answer: Yes … and no … Actually it all depends on how you go about doing it. Yesterday, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that held that municipalities cannot simply pass an ordinance mandating radio boxes when the state building code allows the property owner to use an alternative means of compliance. The details of the case are a bit complicated. In fact I have read a number of articles online that don’t quite seem to fully grasp…
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Firefighter Sues Fire Chief for LODD Accident
The estate of a Virginia volunteer firefighter killed in a LODD roll-over accident has filed a wrongful death suit against the estate of the fire chief and another driver. The suit seeks $2 million in damages. Firefighter William D. Altice and Fire Chief Posey W. Dillon, of the Rocky Mount Fire Department, died on July 26, 2010, while responding on mutual aid to a reported structure fire in a neighboring community. Chief Dillion was driving the engine at the time of the accident. Neither he nor Altice were wearing seatbelts and both were ejected. Altice’s estate filed the action in…
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Use of Fire Truck In Funeral Procession Leads to More Trouble for Embattled New Mexico Fire Chief
Some stories never seem to go away… in fact they just seem to get better as time goes on. And so it is with embattled Velarde, New Mexico Fire Chief Eddie Velarde. You may recall Chief Velarde was arrested last year at a wildland fire by a Rio Arriba County deputy sheriff who sought to take command of the incident. The deputy believed the chief was “out of control”, but Chief Velarde was later exonerated after a trial. The Chief then filed a wrongful arrest and abuse of process suit against the sheriff and the county. He alleges that county…
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Fire Chief Charged With Mishandling Remains of Crash Victim
A fire chief in upstate New York has been charged criminally in connection with obtaining human remains to use to train a cadaver dog. Also charged in the case is the county coroner who allegedly gave him the remains. Fire Chief Vincent Salerno, 50, of the Cambria Volunteer Fire Company, and Russell Jackman, 45, the Fourth District County Coroner, are scheduled to be in court tomorrow in Cambria to answer to a misdemeanor charge of obstructing governmental administration by mishandling human remains. Mishandling of remains leads to charges: wivb.com The remains in question came from the victim of a fatal car crash on…
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CalFire Engineer Contests Demotion Over Red Light Camera Gesture
Today’s burning question: I am an engineer… well, I was an engineer. Anyway, I was going through an intersection that had a red light camera and we had our red lights and siren going and I knew the camera was going to take our picture, so I gave them a “two thumbs up” gesture. My department demoted me back to firefighter. Can they get away with that? Oh, and I was driving kind of fast at the time… the camera said it was something like 60 miles per hour… but the other cars were all stopped. Answer: Son, if you…
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Albuquerque Firefighter In Hot Water
An Albuquerque firefighter is in hot water following the arrests of two burgulars who have identified him as their fence Search of firefighter’s home yields TVs: krqe.com
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Wrongful Terminations and Employment Discrimination in the News
Three fire service employment related suits are in the news today, stretching from Ohio to Washington state. In the first case, the city of Westlake, Ohio announced plans to appeal a trial court ruling that reinstated former Fire Chief Richard Pietrick to the rank of captain. In 2007, Chief Pietrick had been demoted to firefighter following an investigation into his having ordered on-duty subordinates perform auto repair work on his personal vehicles. Chief Pietrick appealed the discipline to the civil service commission who assigned the case to an arbitrator. When the arbitrator ruled in the city’s favor Chief Pietrick appealed…
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Arkansas DOD Fire Chief Pleads to Fraud Charges
The fire chief at the Pine Bluff Arsenal in Arkansas has pled guilty to overtime fraud. Fire Chief Thomas James Braumuller allegedly billed the government more than $133,000 in fraudulent overtime between January 2009 and March 2011. Braumuller, aged 54, has been a Department of Defense firefighter since 1988. He started working for the Pine Bluff Arsenal (a special military installation overseen by the United States Army Joint Munitions Command) in 2004. Braumuller was appointed chief of Pine Bluff Arsenal in 2006 with an annual base pay of approximately $115,000. The United States Army Joint Munitions Command noticed irregularities in…
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Pittsfield Military Discrimination Suit Settled
The Department of Justice has settled a lawsuit over military discrimination with the Pittsfield, Massachusette, Fire Department. The suit alleged that Pittsfield firefighter Jeffrey Rawson was passed over for promotion to lieutenant because of his military service obligations. Rawson passed a promotional exam for lieutenant in 2009, ranking second. In September 2010, he was skipped for promotion. Rawson alleged his superiors directed hostility him, including comments that he needed to decide who he worked for, the Navy of the fire department. The suit based based on the Uniform Service Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). Under the terms of the settlement,…
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