Emergency services - Could this fire department be sued?

Author

Could this fire department be sued?

poboxdc@ix.netcom.com

2004-12-31, 7:17 pm

Fri December 31, 2004

Body seen 2 weeks after fire

By Carrie Coppernoll
Staff Writer

CHICKASHA - The body of Larry Lee lay on the floor of his rented
home for more than two weeks before firefighters found the
charred remains.

"They left him 17 days under that refrigerator," said his mother,
Lucille Carroll.

Lee, 57, died in a Dec. 5 fire at his rent house in Chickasha.
Firefighters didn't find him at first, so his mother filed a missing
person report and asked them to look again. He was discovered
Dec. 22.

The fire started because wood and scraps were being burned
in a 55-gallon drum inside the home, interim Fire Chief
Ronnie Kessler said. Lee was using the barrel to warm the
house after his utilities had been shut off, Kessler
said.

Lee bought an electric heater after his gas was turned off,
but when he returned home, his lights and water had been
cut off, too, his mother said.

Lee's landlord could not be reached for comment.

Firefighters did several "walk-throughs," searching for
the victim, Kessler said. Though the fire was reported in
mid-afternoon, smoke and debris made searching difficult.
Missing the body was unintentional, he said.

"This is the first time that it's happened to us," he said.

Firefighters occasionally can't find victims because bodies
blend in with debris, state Fire Marshal Robert Doke said.
Bodies can be partially consumed by the fire or hidden under
rubble, Doke said.

"It's tough on the family. It's tough on the firefighters,"
he said. "It's just a bad situation for all involved."

Carroll said she and her family are looking at the
possibility of suing the fire department.

"I want to do everything I can for Larry," she said "People
need to be honest and treat him like a human being."

Carroll said that, at first, she thought her son had been
robbed. He recently had received his modest disability check
and an even smaller welfare check.

Carroll said she is angry her son wasn't found sooner. He
was buried Wednesday.

"I hope God will punish them," she said.
-----------------------------------------

Alan Erskine

2004-12-31, 7:17 pm

<poboxdc@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:41D5BA1D.76CDF69E@ix.netcom.com...
> Fri December 31, 2004
>
> Body seen 2 weeks after fire

No:

"Firefighters occasionally can't find victims because bodies
blend in with debris, state Fire Marshal Robert Doke said.
Bodies can be partially consumed by the fire or hidden under
rubble, Doke said."

--
Alan Erskine
We can get people to the Moon in five years,
not the fifteen GWB proposes.
Give NASA a real challenge
Alanterskine1@bigpond.com

Patrick

2004-12-31, 10:08 pm

One must suffer a loss in order to successfully sue.

How did the fire department cause a material loss?

Did anyone get harmed because the idiot was burning
stuff in his home, probably dying from carbon monoxide
poisoning before a fire ever started anyway?

--
Patrick H. Mason M.S. OHST, EMT-I

"Alan Erskine" <alanerskine1@bigpond.com> wrote in message
news:svmBd.98034$K7.65434@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
> <poboxdc@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
> news:41D5BA1D.76CDF69E@ix.netcom.com...
>
> No:
>
> "Firefighters occasionally can't find victims because bodies
> blend in with debris, state Fire Marshal Robert Doke said.
> Bodies can be partially consumed by the fire or hidden under
> rubble, Doke said."
>
>
> --
> Alan Erskine
> We can get people to the Moon in five years,
> not the fifteen GWB proposes.
> Give NASA a real challenge
> Alanterskine1@bigpond.com
>
>

Alan Erskine

2004-12-31, 10:08 pm

"Patrick" <jimmyk@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:gCnBd.10389$qf5.7866@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> One must suffer a loss in order to successfully sue.
>
> How did the fire department cause a material loss?
>
> Did anyone get harmed because the idiot was burning
> stuff in his home, probably dying from carbon monoxide
> poisoning before a fire ever started anyway?

I agree completely; that's basically what I was saying: "No, this fire
department cannot be sued". It's not the FD's fault that the man was in the
building; it's not the FD's fault that the man was using a 55 gallon drum
and burning wood in a home with little or no proper ventilation (no chimney
for instance, as would be the case with a proper fireplace).

--
Alan Erskine
We can get people to the Moon in five years,
not the fifteen GWB proposes.
Give NASA a real challenge
Alanterskine1@bigpond.com

heman

2004-12-31, 10:08 pm

On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 15:44:13 -0500, poboxdc@ix.netcom.com wrote:

yes they can be sued. you can sue for anything.
they will be sued for not doing a secondary properly.
it was a very likely hood the victim was there. it took a week and a
second request to get the job done right.

they will be sued for distress cause to the family. will the
complainant get/win. yes. they will get a settlement which is always
cheaper.

honestly did the fd do a wrong, yes. they should have combed the
scene. to be 100% absolutely certain.

firechief

2004-12-31, 10:08 pm

> Carroll said she and her family are looking at the
> possibility of suing the fire department.

People can sue for anything; getting a court to agree with
you and award dollars is another matter.

Then again, there was the gal who spilled hot coffee between
her legs and got a great deal of money from McDonald's.

You never can tell.

Some jackass in California has filed over 400 ADA suits,
mostly against restaurants.

The media calls him an extortionist

Recently a federal judge finally declared him a "vexatious
litigant" and banned him from ever again filing a suit within
the central district of the state.

firechief

2005-01-01, 11:08 am

poboxdc wrote:

> CHICKASHA - The body of Larry Lee

Where is CHICKASHA?

poboxdc@ix.netcom.com

2005-01-01, 7:11 pm

firechief wrote:
>
> poboxdc wrote:
>
>
> Where is CHICKASHA?

Oklahoma.

firechief

2005-01-01, 7:11 pm

>> Where is CHICKASHA?

> Oklahoma.

Thanks. I see it's the county seat of Grady County
and about 40 miles SW of OKC.