Civil Lawsuit over Deaths of DE Firefighters Dismissed
A federal lawsuit filed on behalf of Delaware firefighters who died in a 2016 arson has been dismissed.
In her 21-page opinion, U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika said the civil suit brought by the families of three Wilmington firefighters who died in the blaze and one firefighter who survived didn't argue the "necessary underlying constitution violation," The News Journal reports. The lawsuit against the city, which was filed in 2018, claimed that the city's cost-cutting policy of rolling station blackouts contributed to the deaths of Lt. Christopher Leach and senior firefighters Jerry Fickes and Ardythe "Ardy" Hope.
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Leach, Fickes and Hope lost their lives while battling a rowhouse arson Sept. 26, 2016, in the Canby Park neighborhood. Three other firefighters—Lt. John Cawthray and now-retired firefighters Brad Speakman and Terrence Tate—were seriously hurt in the blaze.
Wilmington officials had said that the lawsuit was an effort by the families to "get even more money from the city," according to The News Journal. The lawyers for the families said they are appealing the ruling.
"That's what the courts of appeal are for, and we're confident that the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia will give a fair hearing of all the issues," attorney Thomas S. Neuberger told The News Journal.
"All errors of the law made by the district judge will be corrected. Hopefully the case will be reinstated. … We are into this for the long run for the many orphans and widows involved in this case."