The Hartford Courant
HARTFORD, Conn. — The family of firefighter Kevin Bell, who died while fighting a house fire last year, will sue the city, claiming among other things that the lieutenant who entered the burning house with him may have left Bell behind to die because of “personal animus” between the two men.
At a press conference Thursday in the office of their attorney, Paul Levin, Bell’s widow and his brother said they hope the lawsuit will provide answers to why Bell was left behind last October and why no one searched for him for eight minutes even though a “mayday call had been made.”
“My brother, Kevin Bell, was essentially left to die,” his brother Shawn Bell said. “By the time he was pulled out of the building, it was too late. This is why we’re here today. We want justice. We want every single person who should be held accountable to be held accountable.”
Bell, 48, a six-year veteran assigned to Engine 16, died Oct. 7, 2014, while fighting a fire at 598 Blue Hills Ave. A fire department board of inquiry reviewed the incident and found numerous problems with breathing apparatus and radio communications.
The lawsuit, which has not yet been served on the city but copies of which were provided by Levin Thursday, names the city, fire Chief Carlos Huertas, Deputy Chief James McLoughlin, who was in charge of the fire scene, and Lt. John Moree, Bell’s partner, who entered the building with him.
The lawsuit is particularly focused on Moree. It alleges that Moree had left Bell behind in a burning building previously and that Bell had confronted him about it several times, creating “personal animus” between them.
“Moree inexplicably failed to muster a prompt effort to alert fellow firefighters who had not responded to his ‘mayday call’ in an effort to bring about Bell’s rescue,” the suit states.
Bell’s widow, Wayatte Statham-Bell said Thursday that her family’s “world crashed that day” and that she needed answers.
“I don’t know why my husband was left behind,” she said. “My husband always said to me ‘It’s two in and two out.’ I don’t understand it.”
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