Tag Archives: US Forest Service

In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for March 4, 2024, Curt and Bill Maccarone discuss a lawsuit challenging a large budget increase levied by a fire district in New York; the settlement of a wrongful death suit brought by ...

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Southern California Edison has agreed to pay the US Forest Service $80 million in damages to settle a suit related to the Thomas Fire. The fire burned more than 280,000 acres in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties in 2017, including roughly 150,000 acres of national forests.

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In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for October 30, 2023, Brad and Curt discuss the discipline of three officers in the Casper Fire EMS Department; an Ohio firefighter charged with vehicular homicide following a fatal apparatus accident; a Florida ...

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The US Forest Service is being sued by the families of three people who were killed in flooding that followed the largest wildand fire in New Mexico’s history. The Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire burned over 300,000 acres and damaged over 900 structures.

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In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for September 11, 2023, attorney Bill Podszus and Curt discuss a discrimination suit against the Buffalo Fire Department; the ruling upholding the termination of a Bridgeport firefighter for “bizarre behavior”; a wrongful death ...

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Two wildland fire related lawsuits are in the Fire Law headlines, brought by the nation’s two largest wildland firefighting agencies, the US Forest Service and CalFire. The US Forest Service filed suit against Southern California Edison and Utility Tree Service over the Bobcat Fire in 2020.

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In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for August 21, 2023, Brad and Curt discuss a the dismissal of an age-discrimination suit brought by a 46-year old Maryland firefighter recruit; a $20 million suit brought by a terminated fire chief ...

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Several environmental groups, including the Friends of Big Bear Valley, John Muir Project of Earth Island Institute, and San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society, have filed suit against the US Forest Service in an effort to block fuel reduction in the San Bernardino National Forest, and more specifically in the vicinity of Big Bear.

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It seems like each week I am only able to scratch the surface of the fire law news. This week is no exception, but I wanted to point out two additional noteworthy cases. The first involves the settlement of the city’s portion of the Kansas City, Missouri fatal apparatus accident case. The second case involves another firefighter being arrested while engaged in the performance of his duties by an overzealous cop.

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A wildland firefighter with the US Forest Service has been arrested as part of sexual predator sting operation in central California. Mark McGill Jr. was arrested when he arrived in a Forest Service engine to what he thought was a rendezvous with a teenage girl in Fresno County.

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An environmental group has filed suit against the US Forest Service claiming that fire retardants used to battle wildland fires violates the Clean Waters Act. Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics filed suit in US District Court for the District of Montana against the US Forest Service earlier this week.

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A firefighter who was severely burned in 2015 while battling a wildland fire in Washington state has reached a $5 million settlement with two utility companies who were blamed for causing the fire. Daniel Lyon Jr. was the sole survivor of a US Forest Service engine company that was overrun by fire on August 19, 2015 during the Twisp River Fire.

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A former Arizona firefighter is suing the United States Department of Agriculture to obtain recordings and transcripts of air-to-ground radio transmissions that took place during the Yarnell Hill Fire in 2013. The fire killed 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots.

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A wildland firefighter with the US Forest Service testified before Congress last week about what she considered to be pervasive sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the federal agencies that manage public lands. Denice Rice, a Fire Prevention Technician for ...

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