Another Duty to Act Case: Blount County, Tennessee

The son of a Tennessee woman who died in a house fire last year, has filed a $10 million lawsuit against the Blount County Fire Protection District, Blount County Sheriff’s Office, Blount County 911 Center, and the man who allegedly set the fire.

Cheryl Quinn died in an October 14, 2010 fire that was allegedly set by her ex-boyfriend Thomas Henderson. Ms. Quinn discovered the fire and dialed 911. She told dispatchers that Henderson set the fire, was present outside her house acting “crazy”, and that she was afraid of him.

Her son, William Quinn, alleges the fire department, sheriff’s office, and 911 dispatchers were negligent in handling the incident. He alleges the dispatchers triaged the fire as a “medium” priority incident resulting in a delayed response.

Quinn also alleges that one of the responding volunteer firefighters arrived on the scene six minutes prior to the arrival of the first engine, but remained in his personal vehicle. Quoting from the complaint “Instead of attempting to render assistance or to attempt to rescue Quinn from the home, he did not make an attempt to get out of his vehicle, but negligently waited for others to arrive.”

The complaint also makes some general allegations about negligence by the sheriff’s office and firefighters in failing to timely rescue Ms. Quinn.  Neither the suit nor the news coverage indicates whether the first arriving firefighter was an adult or junior member, was qualified as an interior firefighter, had PPE, or was permitted by fire department policy to take any action until another member was on scene.

There are a number of factors that will influence the legal analysis of the firefighter’s conduct – not the least of which is whether a firefighter in such circumstances has a legal duty to act. The duty to act is a question of law that comes before the analysis of whether the firefighter met the standard of care (what would the reasonably prudent firefighter have done). A judge would have to find that a firefighter under such circumstances has a legal duty to act before the jury could consider whether the firefighter breached the standard of care.

Not sure what the other lawyers out there think, but I think it is a stretch to expect a single firefighter with no backup and probably no SCBA, to enter a potentially violent, unsecured crime scene, to conduct a primary search. But, shades of Alameda…  who knows what the public and a non-firefighter judge might decide.

Here is a copy of the complaint.   Quinn COMPLAINT