Louisiana Fire Department Sues Firefighter Arsonist

Posted by: Curt Varone February 28, 2011 0

A combination fire department in Louisiana has filed suit against one of its former call firefighters who set fire to a building owned by the department. The Little Caillou Fire Department filed suit in state court against Jesse Patrick Marcel, 22, who recently pled guilty to setting four fires between 2009 and 2010.

One of the fires that Marcel set was on March 15, 2010 in a house owned by the department and occupied by another member of the department. Damages to the building were estimated at $55,000. The fire department’s insurer, American Alternative Insurance Corp., was also a named plaintiff in the suit under its right of subrogation to recoup $50,000 they paid the fire department.

Marcel was sentenced to one year in prison, and ordered to pay restitution of $10,700 to the house’s tenant, firefighter Whyley Pellegrin.

Incidentally, out of 2,134 lawsuits in my fire litigation database… this is a first: a firefighter sued by the fire department for arson!

For more on the story.

About Curt Varone

Curt Varone has over 45 years of fire service experience and 35 as a practicing attorney licensed in both Rhode Island and Maine. His background includes 29 years as a career firefighter in Providence (retiring as a Deputy Assistant Chief), as well as volunteer and paid on call experience. He is the author of two books: Legal Considerations for Fire and Emergency Services, (2006, 2nd ed. 2011, 3rd ed. 2014, 4th ed. 2022) and Fire Officer's Legal Handbook (2007), and is a contributing editor for Firehouse Magazine writing the Fire Law column.
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