Texas Jury Splits Blame For Firefighter’s Death

May 19--Three years after Kilgore firefighter Kyle Perkins fell to his death from a fire truck basket during a training exercise, a Gregg County jury determined Monday the vehicle manufacturer and the City of Kilgore shared equal fault in the incident.

After a two-week trial beginning April 30, the jury returned a 10-2 decision for the Perkins family, awarding actual damages of $615,000 and setting exemplary damages for gross negligence in the amount of $192,500.

Perkins, 45, and Cory Galloway, 28, died Jan. 25, 2009 while performing a familiarization at Stark Hall at Kilgore College.

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 -- Gary Tyson, Robert King and James Sanders were also injured in the incident.

Because the City of Kilgore was not named in the lawsuit -- immune from such litigation and carrying workmen's compensation insurance -- manufacturer E-One carries the bulk of the verdict, minus half of the actual damages, $307,500.

"The ultimate results of the trial from our perspective is the jury found that the E-One truck was defectively designed, defectively marketed, it had inadequate warnings and instructions," prosecuting attorney John Walker said. "The argument by E-One was that the fire department should have provided safety belts. Our evidence contrary to that was that E-One provided demonstrations and trained the firefighters to use the bucket in the manner they used it that day, without safety belts.

The responsibility of the fire department was a relatively broad question, the Tyler-based attorney said. Though the city was not represented in the lawsuit because it could not be sued, Walker said he never intended to lay blame on the city.

"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 E-One, the specific manufacturer, told them to do.

"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."

Longview attorney and mediator Randy Akin provided E-One's local representation.

"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 Texas law requires a unanimous verdict on a gross negligence finding."

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 Kilgore fire personnel, current and former E-One employees and hired experts.

Kilgore Fire Chief Johnny Bellows, who did not join the department until last fall, said he has nevertheless been involved in the lawsuit.

"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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