Occupational Safety & Health

A Bronx jury has awarded three firefighters and the families of two deceased firefighters $183 million in damages stemming from the Black Sunday fire. The January 23, 2005 fire trapped six firefighters on the top floor of a building from which they were forced to jump 40-50 feet.

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Today’s burning question: can an attorney defending someone charged with aggravated arson for setting a fire that severely injures a firefighter, use the carelessness of the firefighter and the fire department as mitigating factors? Answer: These defenses have been largely UNSUCCESSFUL.

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The families of three Houston firefighters killed in the 2013 Southwest Inn fire have filed another wrongful death lawsuit, this time naming Motorola and Scott Safety as defendants. The suit filed Monday accuses Motorola and Scott of negligence, gross negligence and product liability for selling products that are dangerously defective and contain design defects.

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Today’s burning question: Given the newer NFPA/OSHA standards for our SCBAs, there's a glut of the older 'non-compliant' SCBAs for sale, Can they be used without liability issues? Answer: Asking the dreaded “liability” question virtually guarantees the answer that an attorney will give: no, they cannot be used without liability issues! Could a person give a starving man food without liability issues? Of course not!!!!

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In this episode of Fire Law, Curt and Florida firefighter-attorney Mike Clelland discuss Mike’s recent victory for an Orlando firefighter who was seeking a cancer-related disability pension. Mike, a 26 year fire service veteran and former state legislator, now practices with the law firm of Morgan & Morgan.

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In this episode, Curt explores the connection between the law relating to duty to act and real life in a discussion with Fire Commissioner Dave Phillips, of the Washingtonville Fire District, in New York State. Commissioner Phillips suffered a heart attack and was brought back to life thorough the valiant efforts of his son, an FDNY firefighter, and a local EMS unit.

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A Syracuse, New York firefighter who was fired in 2013 because of diabetic episodes at work, has been ordered to be rehired and awarded backpay. John Williams was fired by the city over concerns that his diabetes was not being properly managed. Williams appealed his termination to the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court

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The widow of a Kentucky fire captain who was electrocuted while assisting with an ice-bucket challenge event last August has filed a wrongful death suit against Kentucky Utilities, Campbellsville University, and Pierce Manufacturing. Gina Grider filed suit in Taylor County Circuit Court last month over the August 21, 2014 death of her husband, Captain Tony Grider of the Campbellsville Fire Department.

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The death of a West Virginia firefighter by a collapsing cell tower has led to a wrongful death suit against five companies, a volunteer fire department and a fire chief. Nutter Fort firefighter Michael D. Garrett, 28, was killed on February 1, 2014 at the scene of a cell tower collapse. While Garret was removing a worker injured in the initial collapse a second tower collapsed.

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The widow of a Washington state firefighter who died of cancer in 2013 has filed suit against the city claiming her husband had knowingly been exposed to radon in his fire station. Wendy Ann Murray filed suit against the City of Vancouver in Clark County Superior Court last week claiming that her husband, Carl, had been “negligently, recklessly and outrageously” exposed to radon.

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The Hartford Fire Department has been cited by Conn OSHA for five serious violations in connection with the October 7, 2014 line of duty death of FF Kevin Bell. Bell died at a house fire that seriously injured a second firefighter, Jason Martinez. Martinez leapt from the second floor to escape rapidly developing fire conditions.

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In a ruling that seems to have surprised the media and many firefighters, the drunk driving case against San Francisco firefighter Michael Quinn has been dismissed. Quinn was driving a ladder truck that struck and nearly killed a motorcyclist, Jack Frazier, on June 29, 2013. A security camera captured the dramatic incident.

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In this episode of Fire Law, attorney Jim Magazine discusses the five lawsuits he has filed over neck injuries to firefighters from the Cairns 1044 Helmet. The product liability suits were filed in Florida state court against MSA, the parent company for Cairns. The suits claim the helmets are defectively designed.

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An Illinois fire department has filed suit against the driver and the owners of a tractor-trailer that slammed into a fire truck on I39 in 2013 killing one firefighter and injuring six. The Hudson Fire Department filed suit against the driver, Mansur Shakirov, as well as the semi's owners seeking compensation for $158,610. The accident occurred on March 5, 2013 while crews were at the scene of a prior multi-vehicle accident and claimed the life of FF Chris Brown.

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