Suit Over Fire Death Settled
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The Editor’s Opinion Page
From Bettendorf, Iowa, comes news of the settlement of a negligence suit against the city and its volunteer fire department over the death of a five-year-old girl who ran back into her burning house to get a plastic Easter egg. The settlement was $225,000.
What makes this case different from others that are pending is that the parents of the child were quoted as saying that their objective was to force the city of 27,000 population to change to a fully paid fire department. At present the department has two paid men.
As in the Pittsburgh suit a year ago, neither suit ever came to trial. In the Bettendorf suit, the city’s insurance carrier made the decision to settle out of court. A rally of some 500 Bettendorf residents voiced support of their fire department after the settlement was announced and Mayor Bill Glynn commented, “I do not hold the Bettendorf Volunteer Fire Department responsible for the death of the little girl.”
This second out-of-court settlement within a year raises some serious questions for the fire service. The philosophy that someone must pay for every tragedy is reaching the fire service more and more. The settlements without trials certainly increases the fears of fire departments everywhere.
The fire service needs to start searching for answers right now and the 109th conference of the IAFC next month in Philadelphia would be a good time to start.
