Texas Jury Splits Blame For Firefighter’s Death
By James Draper, Kilgore News Herald, Texas |
After a two-week trial beginning
Perkins, 45, and
During the exercise, the platform truck's aerial basket, carrying four firefighters, became hung up on the building's parapet. Once forced free after three tries in about 30 seconds, the basket swung away of the wall, throwing the men against the walls of the bucket. The front door of the aerial platform failed at about eight stories above the ground, opening outward, and the two men fell.
Three other firefighters --
Because the
"The ultimate results of the trial from our perspective is the jury found that the
The responsibility of the fire department was a relatively broad question, the
"I never did sue the city and don't think the city did anything wrong. I still hold that belief," he insisted. "They didn't do anything wrong. They acted in accordance with what
"It's not a function of not being able to sue the city, it's a function that we don't believe the city did anything wrong, the fire department that is."
"The plaintiffs contended the doors were defective and we contended that it was hit with such force that it broke the latch," Akin explained. "Our contention was there wasn't anything wrong with the doors, that it complied with federal standards, which it did, and this is something that hadn't happened before."
Further, Akin agreed Thursday, the firefighters were wearing no safety harnesses, a mistake by the fire department.
"The reason you wear safety harnesses is in case other things go wrong. In this case, a lot of things went wrong," he said. "Had they had their safety harnesses on...it would have been a bad memory but that's all. That's the unfortunate thing.
"This was a horrible accident. I feel great sympathy for that family."
According to Akin, the defendants will challenge the punitive damages on the basis of the jury's 10-2 decision.
"The problem that we're going to contend, and I think we're right, is that
The Perkins wrongful death lawsuit is the first verdict to come out of the incident. A similar lawsuit -- on behalf of Galloway, Tyson, King and Sanders -- is scheduled for trial in June.
The recent lawsuit included testimony from Perkins' family members, current and former
"I was brought into it emotionally. Just by being around the firefighters, seeing how they're hurt and the pain that they're feeling, that I feel I'm a part of it also," he said. "I think the deaths were a tragedy for everybody, and we hope that the court's decision can help in the healing process. And that we can all move forward from here."
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Source: | McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Wordcount: | 747 |
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