Fire Law Blog Fire Service and Public Safety Legal Issues Blog by Curt Varone
The owners of a vehicle that was damaged by Sacramento Metro firefighters while battling a blaze in a junk yard, have filed suit alleging negligence. Iryna Vorniku and Kostiantyn Vorniku are seeking $68,000 in damages from the Sacramento Metro Fire District.
The complaint alleges that the vehicle, a new Ford SUV with a value of $68,000, was parked at a semi-truck parking area while the Vornikus were on the road as truck drivers. On August 5, 2022 (while they were gone) a fire occurred at an adjacent junk yard. Firefighters apparently needed to move the Vornikus’ vehicle. They claim firefighters “brought in a bulldozer and destroyed my car completely, pushing… it into the yard where” the fire was.
Quoting from the complaint:
- Defendant used a yellow bulldozer to remove vehicle that was owned by plaintiffs and destroyed a new car.
- DRIVER did not need to move the plaintiffs’ car to access the fire in a neighbor’s junk yard.
- Defendants should have used other means to move the car other than to use a bulldozer that destroyed the car when defendant if needed only needed to pull the car out of the way to gain access to the fire.
Here is a copy of the complaint:
