Lawsuit filed in accident while responding in PA

[Monty 35]

I tried finding more on this article from The Secret List on the web but couldn't. However, firefighterclosecalls.com is a pretty reliable source.

I'm not a lawyer, but I guess this could happen in NY and other states around here. I hope the jury is made up of 12 reasonable men and women! Assuming it goes to court, which I guess is questionable from my limited understanding of these things.

This is a complicated business we've chosen to work in. We should all be aware of national standards and recommendations, then be able to adhere to them, or know why we don't. And be prepared to defend our decisions, whatever they are.

A crash in PA has resulted in a Court date...and a lawsuit...holding the FD (amongst others) responsible. A Shickshinny (PA) couple is suing a volunteer firefighter, his mother and the fire company, saying the young man crashed into their car on his way to a fire call last year. Joseph and Rosemarie Hall claim that Firefighter Ryan Morris, the Shickshinny FD and Morris's mother, Holly, should pay more than $50,000 in lost wages and medical expenses. Joseph Hall, 37, suffered a broken neck, head trauma, facial bruising and other injuries after he and his wife collided head-on with Morris on May 12, 2006. Rosemarie, 43, suffered less serious injuries, including pain in her stomach and back. FF Morris was 19 at the time of the crash and is the son of Shickshinny Fire Chief Kevin Morris. The younger Morris lives with his parents and was driving a car owned by Holly Morris at the time of the accident. FF Morris was responding to a fire call around 2200 hours, and "suddenly and without warning," turned left at the intersection and struck Hall's vehicle, according to the complaint. The Halls contend that Morris was speeding, not paying attention to the road, and failed to signal his turn and yield right-of-way to oncoming traffic. As a result of the accident, the Halls have been unable to work and enjoy the activities people their age normally would, the complaint states. They are suing the fire department for failing to adequately train firefighters how to obey traffic laws when responding to emergency calls, and Holly Morris for negligence in letting her son drive the car that night. Generally, like with lots of stuff, everything is "just fine" until something goes wrong. Sometimes the more we do something wrong-and get away with it, the more it becomes the way to do it. Sometimes we can be prepared and sometimes we can't...but mostly we can...with a little planning and loads of training. We can be prepared if something goes wrong...or even better-we can be very prepared so that rarely something will go wrong. It all depends.

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Interesting case.

I don't know the particulars, but if this kid is at fault, then the victim deserves what he is asking for, and the FD needs to do some serious work.

For volunteers, responding in their personal vehicles, especially with lights, is a huge personal and departmental liability that many departments neglect.

For the owner/operator of the car, I've heard of insurance companies jacking rates up or dropping coverage because of this.

Insurance works differently in different states though.....does a departments insurance cover a member if he is driving his personal vehicle to a call or the firehouse????????

[Monty 35]

Insurance works differently in different states though.....does a departments insurance cover a member if he is driving his personal vehicle to a call or the firehouse????????

I think this is a question many people want to ignore. I know I was told with my old department, that you are on duty when the pager goes off, and covered until you return home. Presumably though this doesn't cover going to a restaurant or bar on the way home! However, what does 'on duty' mean? Certainly VFBL, but I doubt it covers auto insurance.

My old company did run drivers license checks on ALL members, not just drivers and we did have one case of a suspended driver that was suspended after he continued to respond to calls driving himself!

Be interesting if anyone from the Civil side of a VFD can shed any light.

Actually, I guess in a similar manner, what about a Career firefighter? What happens if you get called back? What about if you have to fill in at another station?