EDWARDSVILLE — The fire departments that responded to a Bethalto fire where Capt. Jake Ringering died when a wall collapsed are suing the homeowner for failing to maintain the property or warn the firefighters of the home's unsafe condition.
Village of Fosterburg, Godfrey Fire Protection District, Village of Bethalto, as statutory subrogees of Ringering, Brian Buhs, Alexander Ocepek, Luke Warner, Christopher Stratton and John Holtorf, filed a complaint March 5 in the Madison County Circuit Court against Roland Bland Living Trust and Roland Bland, alleging negligence and wrongful death.
According to the complaint, Bland owned and maintained a property located at 4064 Culp Lane in Bethalto. The plaintiffs allege that on March 5, 2019, Ringering, Buhs, Ocepek, Warner, Stratton and Holtorf responded to a fire at the defendant's home while in the course of their employment with the Godfrey Fire Protection District, Village of Bethalto and Village of Fosterburg. She claim they "encountered an unsafe and dangerous conditions existing upon the property" which resulted in serious bodily injuries for the firefighters and Ringering's death.
The plaintiffs allege Bland "should have anticipated that visitors, first responders, police and fire personnel such as the injured parties herein, would fail to fully appreciate and protect themselves from the unsafe and dangerous condition that existed as they would be distracted by the conditions existing at the time of occurrence."
Bland was present at the property during the fire and should have expected that first responders would "deliberately encounter" the dangerous conditions in order to perform their work and "might fail to protect themselves" from the hazards," the suit states. However, he failed to warn them.
The fire departments argue that Bland had a duty to exercise reasonable care in the maintenance, ownership and control of the property by performing regular upkeep, repairs, inspections, and remediation as required.
Bland is accused of negligently failing to properly maintain the premises, specifically the oven/stove which became faulty and caused the fire, allowing the property to become unsafe and dangerous, failing to maintain the faulty stove, allowing the faulty stove to exist and failing to warn of the structural instability of the property and its susceptibility to collapse.
As a result, Capt. Ringering, 37, died when a back wall of the property collapsed, leaving behind his wife and three children. The suit states that his next of kin "have sustained significant losses as a result of his death."
"Jake's greatest joy was his children," states a tribute by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. "He spent his days at home taking care of them, actively present in everything family related. The extraordinary love he gave during their cherished time together created an unbreakable bond in the hearts of his children, who adore their dad. Jake's loyalty instilled that family comes first; a model by which he lived."
Buhs, Ocepek, Warner, Stratton and Holtorf suffered serious and permanent injuries, preventing them from attending to their usual duties and affairs. The have suffered pain and anguish, suffered lost wages and value of that time, and incurred medical expenses.
At the time of the fire, the firefighters' employers were members of a "risk pool" with the Illinois Public Risk Fund, which provides workers' compensation coverage. The fire departments claim they have incurred costs and attorney fees in defending the workers' compensation claims as a result of the defendants' negligence.
"Village of Fosterburg, Godfrey Fire Protection District, and/or Village of Bethalto bring this action against defendants ... as statutory subrogree (sic), they have stepped into the shoes of the injured parties and may prosecute all claims and recover all damages which such injured parties could have alleged and/or recovered against defendants," the suit states.
At the time of the incident, Ringering, Stratten and Warner were performing duties in the scope of their employment with Godfrey Fire Protection District. Holtorf was performing duties in the scope of his employment with the Village of Fosterburg. Buhs and Ocepek were performing duties in the scope of the employment with the Village of Bethalto.
The plaintiffs seek compensation of more than $50,000, interest and all other just relief. They are represented by Douglas Keane and Gregory Vacala of Rusin & Maciorowski LTD in Chicago.
Madison County Circuit Court case number 21-L-000278