By Rhonda Cook
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
DUNWOODY, Ga. — The family of a 74-year-old Dunwoody woman who died in a house fire in January has filed a lawsuit against DeKalb County, saying officials seem disinterested in their suggestions on improving procedures.
Ruth Bartlett, Ann Bartlett’s middle daughter, said Friday the family was further frustrated by the reinstatement of one of the firefighters and appeals of two others. They were fired for not walking up to the house when they were first dispatched.
“The only times they reached out to us was in the days surrounding the incident,” Ruth Bartlett told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday. “We had a meeting [with DeKalb County officials] a week or 10 days later and [since then] they’ve gone silent. They’ve not given us reports.”
A DeKalb County spokeswoman declined to comment on the lawsuit.
“On behalf of DeKalb County, our sympathy is with the Bartlett family. DeKalb County does not comment on pending litigation, therefore, no additional statement will be issued,” Shelia Edwards, spokeswoman for DeKalb’s CEO, said.
The lawsuit asks for unspecified monetary damages and accuses the fire department, the county and Capt. Tony Motes, acting officer William Greene, Capt. Sell Caldwell, Battalion Chief Lesley Clark and acting shift commander Bennie Paige of negligence that led to Ann Bartlett’s death.
“We feel like they have shut us out,” Ruth Bartlett said. “They’re not doing anything, to our knowledge, to change their policies and procedures. All we want is a third-party review. This fell apart at four or five different points. Our main deal is not about money.”
Ann Bartlett’s daughters say their goal is to change the DeKalb fire department’s policies and practices, changes they said might have saved their mother.
They decided to sue after a hearing officer reinstated Motes, in early April, a decision the county is challenging.
“The [DeKalb County] Human Resources Department says what was done out there was fine and nothing was done wrong. That’s a bitter pill,” said Bartlett family attorney W. Pitts Carr.
Fire Chief David Foster was forced out on Feb. 1; Foster is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
Meanwhile, appeals are pending for two of the other fired firefighters.
“We’re fearful all of them will get their jobs back,” Ruth Bartlett said.
Ann Bartlett called 911 minutes after 1 a.m. on Jan. 24 to report she had “set the house on fire with the thing from my nose,” referring to an oxygen concentrator she used when she slept. But the phone went dead during that call.
“The phone goes out and ... the dispatcher could not call back. It was a disconnect. It should have been another clue to those people. They never bothered,” Ruth Bartlett said.
Engines 12 and 18 and truck 18 pulled up at the 1600 block of Houghton Court North 12 minutes later, but they all left when firefighters saw no signs of a fire. Five hours later, after a neighbor called, firefighters returned to find the home engulfed.
Staff writer Megan Matteucci contributed to this article.
Copyright 2010 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution