The Associated Press
MADISON, Ind. — The chief of a volunteer fire company is suing two other departments over injuries he suffered while recovering the body of another firefighter from a burning house after he had been missing for 45 minutes.
Madison Township Fire Chief Robert Black’s lawsuit in southern Indiana’s Jefferson Circuit Court accuses the Hanover and Kent volunteer fire companies of negligence for failing to keep track of firefighters at the scene.
Phone messages seeking comment were left at numbers affiliated with the Hanover and Kent companies Wednesday. A man who answered the phone at another number said he was no longer involved with the Hanover department.
Black, 41, fractured his right ankle when he fell from a second-story balcony while trying to recover the body of Kent Township firefighter Greg Cloud on Nov. 1, 2006. Cloud died from smoke inhalation, according to the suit filed Oct. 15.
The suit alleges that Cloud remained in the burning house for about 45 minutes before firefighters determined he was still inside. Black previously said a head count came up one firefighter short and they knew it was Cloud because his truck was there but he couldn’t be found. Black and two other firefighters then went in to search for him.
The suit faults the Hanover and Kent departments for failing to have a system to track firefighters at the scene. Some departments use tags that are left behind to signify firefighters’ whereabouts, while others use electronic systems.
The suit also alleges the two departments did not make certain all firefighters used respirators, failed to maintain communications among firefighters and did not provide proper training.
The suit said Black was incapacitated for several months due to the nature of the fracture. It does not specify a damage amount.