BALTIMORE — A judge recently dismissed a lawsuit filed by the families of three Baltimore firefighters who were killed in 2022 while battling a fire in a vacant rowhome. However, an attorney for one of the families intends to refile the case.
In a 19-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Maddox acknowledged that the allegations in the complaint were “tragic and alarming,” but stated that he was compelled to dismiss the case, the Baltimore Banner reported.
Maddox stated that the accusations, as presented, did not provide sufficient grounds to reasonably infer that the fire department acted with the intent to harm the firefighters, the Baltimore Banner reported. Such intent is necessary to establish a potential legal argument that a state-created danger violated their constitutional rights.
The families of Lieutenant Kelsey Sadler, Lieutenant Paul Butrim, EMT/Firefighter Kenny Lacayo and injured Firefighter John McMaster filed a lawsuit on May 1 in U.S. District Court over the deadly 2022 fire on South Stricker Street.
The lawsuit claimed the city condemned the rowhouse in 2015, deeming it structurally unsafe, but took no action after it caught fire again in 2016. It alleged three firefighters were injured when the second floor collapsed during the 2022 fire.
Baltimore’s 2010 Code X-Ray program was meant to identify unsafe condemned buildings with red X markings or reflective placards and sync this data with dispatch systems, the lawsuit stated. However, the city allegedly ended or limited the program, failing to warn firefighters and sending them into unsafe buildings for over a decade.
Neighbors had repeatedly complained about the rowhouse, but the city allegedly did nothing.
The city sought to have the lawsuit dismissed. In 2022, Fire Chief Niles Ford resigned following a report criticizing the department for ignoring safety recommendations after past incidents. The ATF determined the fire was caused by criminal activity.
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