Fire Law Blog Fire Service and Public Safety Legal Issues Blog by Curt Varone

A tax increase that more than doubled the budget of a fire district in New York, is being challenged by four taxpayers who claim the district failed to comply with the law. Crystal Myers, Beth Salisbury, Eric Pappa and Vicki Parvese filed suit against the Richland Fire District in Oswego County Supreme Court.

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The City of Colorado Springs has agreed to settle a wrongful death suit brought by the daughter of a homeless woman who was inadvertently run over by a brush unit responding to a fire in a park in 2022. Margaret Miller, 76, was lying on the ground under debris and blankets on a dirt path.

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A Cleveland firefighter who claimed to have been the victim of race and disability discrimination due to Cleveland’s facial hair policy, has lost his lawsuit to be allowed to have a short beard. Anthony Davis filed suit in 2023, claiming the city’s policy prohibiting facial hair at the SCBA interface was aimed at “thinning the ranks of Black/African American firefighters.”

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Southern California Edison has agreed to pay the US Forest Service $80 million in damages to settle a suit related to the Thomas Fire. The fire burned more than 280,000 acres in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties in 2017, including roughly 150,000 acres of national forests.

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Two Rialto, California firefighters who were terminated in the aftermath of a high-profile EMS incident in 2021, have been reinstated by an arbitrator. Captain Josh Gilliam, Firefighter-Paramedic Matt Payne, and Engineer Mark Brady were accused of wrongfully refusing to enter the Rialto Post Acute Care Center on November 17, 2021 due to COVID related concerns.

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In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for February 26, 2024, Brad and Curt discuss the termination of a Tampa firefighter for falsifying EMS training records; a negligence suit brought by a fire captain in Washington state for injuries sustained ...

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A Tampa firefighter who twice made claims of race discrimination that could not be substantiated, has been terminated for forging signatures on EMS training documentation. Andrew Dixon was fired for forging signatures to show he attended paramedic training that he did not.

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A Washington fire captain and his spouse have filed suit against his department claiming the injuries he suffered at a building fire, were the result of the city’s negligence. Vancouver Captain Gregory Weber was injured on February 22, 2021 when a ceiling collapsed on him.

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The City of St. Louis and two fire department EMTs are facing a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the sister of a man who died in 2021. Sharon LaRue claims that St. Louis Fire Department Medic 32 was dispatched for her brother, who has been struck by a vehicle. She further claims that Medic 32 stopped after being struck by a rock.

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An Ohio magistrate has recommended that a volunteer fire department be held in contempt for failing to comply with a court order to produce certain financial records as part of a public records request. The Calcutta Volunteer Fire Department had previously been ordered to produce those records as part of a public records suit filed by Christine Lea Lerussi.

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An FDNY lieutenant is facing assault charges for allegedly making physical contact with an EMT during an argument that occurred at an EMS incident. The altercation, which various media outlets have characterized as “strangling,” reportedly occurred during the early morning hours of Saturday, February 17, 2024 in Brooklyn.

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In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for February 19, 2024, Curt discusses a lawsuit brought by the estate of a man who died after being tackled and restrained by a Colorado medic; proposed changes to OSHA’s Fire Brigade Standard; ...

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The estate of a man who died while in police custody after suffering from a mental health emergency, has filed suit against a police officer and a fire department medic who restrained him. Kevin Dizmang died on November 15, 2022 after a failed intervention by the Colorado Springs Police Department Crisis Response Unit.

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The OSHA has unveiled a proposed update to 29 CFR 1910.156, the Fire Brigade Standard, and is seeking input from the public. Enacted in 1980 and not updated since, the Fire Brigade Standard has had a rather minimal impact on the fire service up to this point.

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