Louisiana Wrongful Death Suit Alleges Dispatch and Search Failures in Fatal Shreveport House Fire

A wrongful death lawsuit filed in Caddo Parish alleges that communication failures and delayed search efforts by the Shreveport Fire Department contributed to the deaths of an elderly woman and her two granddaughters in an April 6, 2025 house fire on Kemp Lane in Shreveport.

According to the petition, Mildred Carter-Rawls was inside her home at 2441 Kemp Lane with her two young granddaughters when the fire broke out shortly before 6:37 a.m. The children’s mother called 911 after receiving a call from one of the girls reporting that the house was on fire. The suit states that the 911 operator was told the children were inside with their grandmother and conveyed that information to fire communications before transferring the call to fire dispatch. 

The petition alleges that at approximately 6:38 a.m. dispatch broadcast a response to a “possible” house fire, sending four engines, a ladder, a rescue and a chief, but did not verbally advise responding crews that occupants were reported inside. Plaintiffs contend that dispatch later entered a written message into the mobile terminal system indicating that people were in the house, but that responding crews either did not see the message or were not otherwise alerted by radio. 

Engine 6, under the command of Captain Devin Kennedy, arrived at about 6:43 a.m. and encountered smoke and fire showing from the A-side of the residence. The suit alleges crews began fire attack operations and that Engine 4 arrived shortly afterward, but no immediate search and rescue effort was initiated. According to the petition, firefighters also made no attempt at that stage to determine whether anyone was inside, despite vehicles being present in the driveway and the prior 911 report that multiple occupants were trapped. 

The petition states that only after Engine 8 arrived and verbally relayed the mobile terminal message that people were inside did crews enter the home to begin search operations. By then, according to the filing, Mildred Carter-Rawls and her two granddaughters had died. The suit further alleges, on information and belief, that Captain Kennedy was terminated or involuntarily retired following the incident because of a failure to follow search and rescue protocols. 

The plaintiffs, Artilious Saxton and Cleveland Saxton, sons of Mildred Carter-Rawls, filed suit individually and on behalf of their mother’s estate against the City of Shreveport and the Shreveport Fire Department. Their petition alleges negligence in failing to conduct timely search and rescue, failing to communicate known occupant information, failing to maintain effective communication between dispatch and responding companies, and failing to properly train personnel. 

Quoting from the complaint:

• Defendants are liable, negligent, and at fault for directly and proximately causing the survival and wrongful death of Mildred Carter-Rawls, in the following non-exclusive particulars:
• 1) Failing to perform search and rescue efforts;
• 2) Failing to perform search and rescue efforts timely;
• 3) Failing to follow search and rescue protocols and procedures;
• 4) Failing to communicate the known presence of persons inside the burning home;
• 5) Failing to implement, maintain, and ensure effective communication between dispatch and responding engine crews;
• 6) Failing to implement proper search and rescue protocols and procedures;
• 7) Failing to conduct an assessment for the presence of persons inside the burning home;
• 8) Failing to properly train SFD personnel;
• 9) Failing to do what they should have done; and
• 10) All other acts of negligence that may become known prior to trial.

The lawsuit seeks wrongful death and survival damages under Louisiana law, including funeral expenses, mental anguish, loss of love and affection, pain and suffering, and damages for fear of impending death. The case was filed in the First Judicial District Court for Caddo Parish. Here is a copy of the complaint: