On June 28, 2016, a woman was run over at the Beaver Creek Reservoir in Adams Township, Ohio. The woman was walking along a trail on the embankment when she was struck and killed by a Green Springs Rural Volunteer Fire Department truck.

The woman’s husband has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the firefighter who was driving the truck as well as the fire department. The complaint states that the driver of the truck put it in reverse without looking behind him and that the driver’s view was obstructed by a hose reel. The complaint also said that the truck was in an area that permitted motor vehicles.

The fire department went to the reservoir on a report of a boat capsizing. The rescue boat ran out of fuel, so the fire truck went to the other side of the reservoir to get more fuel. Other members of the department said they saw the women walking with her phone in her hand and headphones in.

Two boaters had been rescued from the capsized boat and were taken to a waiting EMS crew at the boat launch. Firefighters couldn’t get the boat out of the water, so they asked the driver of the truck to help pull the boat out. When the driver backed up the truck, he apparently didn’t hear a co-worker yelling at him to stop. He struck the woman.

The woman’s husband said, “I want to see policies and procedures put into place. This should have never happened, and I don not want to see it happen to anyone else.”

When someone’s negligent actions cause a loss of life, he or she can be held liable. The fire department is named as a defendant in the lawsuit because the driver of the truck was working for the department when the tragedy occurred.

If you suffer injury because of another person’s negligent actions or you lose a loved one, you have a right to seek compensation from those who are liable for the accident.

Source: emsworld.com, “Ohio Firefighter, Department Sued for Death,” Nolan Rosenkrans, Dec. 16, 2016