Fire Law Blog Fire Service and Public Safety Legal Issues Blog by Curt Varone
A Nevada fire department and a battalion chief are facing a wrongful death suit over a 2018 accident that killed two people. The Central Lyon County Fire Protection District and BC Brett Larkin are being sued by the family of Joseph House, Jr. House died in a motor vehicle accident on August 21, 2018 on U.S. Highway 50 in Stagecoach.
Another driver, Tyler Maher, 25, also died in the crash. According to the suit Maher was speeding in the right-hand lane when he came up Chief Larkin, who “brake checked” causing Maher to swerve into House’s vehicle. The complaint alleges Chief Larkin was driving “recklessly and negligently.”
According to the Reno Gazette Journal, Central Lyon County Fire Protection District’s Fire Chief Rich Harvey, the state highway patrol conducted a comprehensive investigation into the accident, including an accident reconstruction. “That investigation found no fault or involvement of Central Lyon County Fire Protection District vehicles or personnel in the unfortunate events of Aug. 21, 2018.”
