By Gabrielle Banks
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania)
Copyright 2006 P.G. Publishing Co.
A jury awarded about $5 million yesterday to the family of a 10-year-old Coraopolis girl killed by a loose fire hose trailing behind a fire engine, and to the family of her 10-year-old friend who was badly injured.
As the verdict was read, Joyce A. Schmidt broke into tears, gripping an engraved image of her daughter Erin on a chain around her neck.
Ms. Schmidt was in her yard with the two girls and was also hit with the hose on Aug. 19, 2004, as a four-man crew from the Coraopolis Volunteer Fire Department raced to a basement fire on Mount Vernon Avenue.
The pound nozzle caused a brain injury when it hit Erin. She died the following evening. Her friend Joeylynne Jeffress, 10, of Coraopolis, had multiple facial and head injuries. The jury of eight women and four men arrived at a unanimous decision after eight hours of deliberation.
Several jurors hugged the deceased girl’s mother and gave her their condolences as they left the courthouse.
The jury split responsibility equally between the truck company and the Coraopolis Volunteer Fire Department, but officials from Freightliner Specialty Vehicles Inc. will bear the brunt of the financial burden because the fire department has a $500,000 cap on what it can pay.
The Schmidt family was given more than $3 million and the Jeffress family received nearly $2 million.
Alan H. Perer, lawyer for the Schmidts, and John P. Gismondi, the lawyer for the Jeffress family, said they were thrilled with the outcome.
The National Fire Protection Association made it mandatory for engines to have a restraint to hold fire hoses in place after this incident, Mr. Perer said.