By Amanda Codispoti
The Roanoke Times
BOTETOURT COUNTY, Va. — Families of two people killed in a 2008 Memorial Day head-on crash with a Botetourt County fire truck have filed $7 million wrongful death lawsuits, alleging the volunteer firefighter driver was speeding and “a danger to the community.”
The two suits filed Tuesday in Botetourt County Circuit Court seek $7 million each in the May 26, 2008, deaths of Russell D. Meadows, 44, of Covington and his girlfriend, Judi Clark Martin, 46, of Clifton Forge.
They name as defendants the truck’s driver, the Eagle Rock Volunteer Fire Department, the town of Eagle Rock, Botetourt County and its emergency services.
The community of Eagle Rock is not an incorporated town.
Meadows and Martin were riding in Meadows’ 2001 Ford Ranger pickup on U.S. 220 just north of Eagle Rock, when a northbound fire truck on its way to an earlier wreck crossed the centerline and smashed into them.
Meadows and Martin died instantly, the lawsuit said.
Lucas McCulloch, 28, the Eagle Rock firefighter driving the 1993 KME pumper truck, was speeding, didn’t brake as he rounded a curve and had a 2002 reckless driving charge while driving an emergency vehicle that made him a danger, the lawsuits said.
McCulloch, who couldn’t be reached Wednesday, wasn’t charged in the wreck.
A Virginia State Police investigation blamed inappropriate braking, speed and the curve of the road in causing 1,000 gallons of water in the truck’s tank to shift.
The sloshing water put most of the truck’s weight on the front left tire, making it impossible for McCulloch to steer, according to the probe.
The investigation said McCulloch wasn’t speeding.
Martin’s mother-in-law said the past two years have been terrible, especially for Judi Martin’s teenage daughter.
“I just hope that something does happen,” said Emma Martin. “You hate to see two loves gone.”
Meadows’ father, Willard Meadows, was so upset that state police cleared the fire truck driver that he unsuccessfully sued Botetourt County Commonwealth’s Attorney Joel Branscom and state police last year.
A Botetourt County judge dismissed the lawsuit after Meadows failed to show up for a court hearing.
Meadows’ attorney, Bev Davis, said they didn’t want to comment on the latest lawsuit.
The lawsuits said McCulloch was traveling well above the 55 mph speed limit and didn’t brake as he rounded a curve.
The Meadows and Martin families “do not believe” the explanation about the shifting water, the lawsuits said.
“Some of the defendants allege and maintain that the baffles in the water tank on the 1993 KME pumper fire truck were defective,” the lawsuits said.
If there was a defect, McCulloch should have been aware of the problem and should have been more careful, the suits said.
The fire department, town and county should have known that McCulloch “was a danger to the community when allowed to continue to operate” emergency vehicles after a 2002 reckless driving charge, the suits said.
McCulloch was charged with driving a pickup truck registered as a Botetourt County emergency vehicle 84 mph in a 55 mph zone, according to court records.
A judge reduced that charge to operating defective equipment.
McCulloch lost his driver’s license for 60 days, spent a day in jail, completed a driver improvement program, performed 48 hours of community service and paid a $100 fine.
Botetourt County Attorney Elizabeth Dillon said Wednesday she hadn’t seen the lawsuit. She said the county isn’t liable.
“I don’t know how they are going to assert any liability on the county because it wasn’t a county vehicle and it wasn’t a county employee,” Dillon said.
The lawsuits said the fire truck is owned by the Botetourt County Fire and Rescue Association, which the suits said is also known as Botetourt County Emergency Services.
The Eagle Rock fire chief could not be reached Wednesday. Chief Darryl Johns said in 2008 that the wreck weighed heavily on McCulloch.
“He’s always been there to help people, not hurt someone,” Johns said.
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