Fire Law Blog

A longtime Wilmington Fire Department battalion chief has filed a federal lawsuit alleging the City of Wilmington retaliated against him by delaying line-of-duty health benefits after he served as a witness in a discrimination case against the City.

A federal district court in Washington, D.C. has ruled that a female fire investigator’s hostile work environment claims against the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services (DCFEMS) may proceed, while dismissing her discrimination and retaliation claims.

On the heels of our coverage of an antitrust class action lawsuit filed by Kansas City, Kansas targeting fire apparatus manufacturers, the State of California, the County of Los Angeles and the Consolidated Fire Protection District of Los Angeles County have filed their own sweeping federal lawsuit alleging unlawful consolidation and monopolization in the fire truck industry.

The City of Norwich, Connecticut has suspended operations of the Yantic Volunteer Fire Department following a dispute over whether the department would agree to operate under a city-mandated unified command structure. The suspension removes the department from emergency response operations and freezes its city funding.

The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas has become the latest municipality to file a federal class action lawsuit against several major fire apparatus manufacturers, alleging a nationwide conspiracy to suppress competition, restrict production, and drive up prices and delivery times for fire apparatus.

A recently retired battalion chief with the Salt Lake City Fire Department has been arrested and charged with multiple felony counts related to child sexual abuse material, according to Utah news reports.

In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for February 9, 2026, Brad and Curt discuss the termination of an Austin fire captain for timekeeping fraud; criminal charges brought against a Baltimore County Fire Department paramedic for engaging in lewd behavior in the firehouse that resulted in other personnel ingesting his bodily fluids; a ruling allowing …

An Austin Fire Department captain has been indefinitely suspended following an internal investigation into allegations of timekeeping fraud and related policy violations. According to reports, Captain Chelsea Caloia, who was assigned to the department’s Prevention Division, was indefinitely suspended on January 30, 2026, after the Austin Fire Professional Standards Office investigated allegations that she falsified …

A Baltimore County paramedic who had been under investigation following reports of inappropriate conduct at fire stations has now been criminally charged in connection with those allegations. Christopher Carroll, 36, an employee of the Baltimore County Fire Department, faces 23 criminal charges stemming from conduct alleged to have occurred at county fire stations.

A federal district court in South Carolina has denied, in large part, a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed against the City of Greenville and its fire chief by a firefighter who alleges he was terminated for communicating concerns about department operations and morale while serving as union president.

A federal magistrate judge in New York has recommended allowing a lawsuit filed by an FDNY firefighter fired after being denied a religious exemption from the City’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement to move forward.

The family of a bicyclist who was struck and killed by a fire truck has filed suit against the Town of Nags Head, Nags Head Fire and Rescue, and the apparatus driver. Jane E. Ferguson, as executrix of the estate of her brother Gary Edward Ferguson, filed the wrongful death action in Dare County Superior Court.

In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for February 2, 2026, Brad and Curt discuss an Illinois appellate ruling reversing the termination of a firefighter’s line-of-duty disability pension; a California appellate ruling affirming the termination of a Los Angeles City firefighter disciplined for engaging in revenge pornography and vandalization; a federal judge in Illinois denying …

An Illinois appellate court has reversed a decision by the Board of Trustees of the Evanston Firefighters’ Pension Fund that terminated a firefighter’s line-of-duty disability pension, concluding the Board’s finding that the firefighter had recovered from her disability was against the manifest weight of the evidence.

A California appellate court has affirmed the termination of a Los Angeles City firefighter who was disciplined for engaging in revenge pornography and vandalizing a private individual’s property. The decision addresses a series of procedural challenges raised by the former firefighter and rejects each of them.

A federal judge in Illinois has denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by an Evanston Fire Department captain who alleges he was suspended because of his political support for Donald Trump. Curt Koopman, a Captain with the Evanston Fire Department, filed suit claiming violation of the First Amendment Rights and the Illinois Local Governmental Employees Political Rights Act.

A lieutenant with Toledo Fire and Rescue has filed a federal civil rights suit alleging he was unlawfully terminated for an off-duty Facebook comment made from his personal account. Lt. Jeffery Schroeder filed suit naming the City, the fire chief, the city’s safety director, and several command officers as defendants.

Two fire law cases—one decided by a New York appellate court and another newly filed in Utah—both involve injuries allegedly caused by fire hoses in public roadways. Although the factual circumstances differ, each case raises questions about municipal liability and the legal consequences of hose placement and transport during fire department operations.

In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for January 26, 2026, Brad and Curt discuss a decision criminal charges brought against a North Carolina battalion chief for setting a fire in a vacant restaurant; a ruling that allowed a suit against FDNY for the involuntary transport of a patient for a psychiatric evaluation to proceed; …

A battalion chief with the Matthews Fire & EMS has been charged with setting fire to a vacant commercial building earlier this month. The building involved in the incident was a vacant former Boston Market restaurant on East Independence Boulevard in Matthews.