Injured Cologne Volunteer Firefighter Denied Benefits

Tuesday, January 22 2008 @ 04:44 pm EST

Contributed by: CBrining

From the Atlantic City Press published: Tuesday, January 22, 2008

By MICHELLE LEE Staff Writer, 609-272-7256

LEUCI

More than three years passed since volunteer firefighter Keith Leuci risked his own life to save a man from a burning car in an Egg Harbor Township accident.

Click here for full article (Continued from page 1)

Since that time, the former Hamilton Township resident said he still is seeking compensation for the injuries he sustained during the rescue. Leuci and his family were traveling on the Black Horse Pike on Aug. 20, 2004, when he noticed smoke coming from three cars on fire. Although Leuci, a fire lieutenant, was off-duty and still recovering from a prior car accident, he stopped to help despite danger warnings from other bystanders.

Wearing only a T-shirt and shorts, Leuci pried open a car door and pulled James Barnes, then 26, of Pleasantville, to safety before the vehicle exploded. The accident killed Barnes' cousin, Donald Wilson II, 25, of Somers Point, who was still trapped inside the car. During the rescue, Leuci and Barnes fell. Leuci later found out that he tore ligaments in both knees.

After the incident, Leuci said he had to give up his remodeling business because of his ongoing health problems and he found it difficult to obtain steady work. His family could no longer afford to keep their New Jersey home and they relocated to Tennessee in March 2006.

Leuci, 41, estimated that he spent about $6,000 for two knee ligament surgeries on August 2005 and November 2007 and physical therapy. He still needs another reconstructive procedure on his right knee, which he said he is postponing because he is still paying medical bills.

What frustrates Leuci the most is the lack of assistance he received from government officials. Leuci said he petitioned for workers' compensation from Hamilton Township in September 2004 and it was denied. Leuci applied again with the Cologne Volunteer Fire Company in October 2005. The second case is still pending. Leuci said he does not seek special treatment; he just wants the same coverage any other firefighter would get when hurt on the job. "I'm looking for workman's compensation to fix me, do what it's supposed to do, repair my knees, do what they have to do and pay me for my lost wages," Leuci said in a telephone interview Monday from Paris, Tennessee.

Leuci's attorney, Christopher Day, said that while his client received accolades for his heroic rescue - a valor award from the Atlantic County Firefighters' Association and a medal from the Carnegie Hero Fund - Leuci continues to pay a high personal price for his deed. "The irony is everyone honors him, shakes his hands, takes photo ops," Day said. "But they deny him benefits."

Jim Pietras, the attorney representing the Cologne Volunteer Fire Company, said that while Leuci's actions were laudable, they cannot be compensated because Egg Harbor Township authorities did not request assistance from Hamilton Township during the accident. "He's a volunteer and he needed the authorization of his superior to respond to emergencies, and he had none in this case," Pietras said.

Day said Leuci did not have time to contact the Cologne fire company because of the seriousness of the accident.

Both parties presented their arguments at a November hearing before state Workers' Compensation Judge Cosmo Giovinazzi III, who is expected to make a decision soon.

In the meantime, Leuci is in the process of creating a new life down in Tennessee.

Leuci said he is fortunate his wife, Susan, has been the primary supporter of the family through her Internet party favor company. Leuci said jobs were difficult to find in their new home and he even tried out for the local fire department, without success. Leuci said he worked at a state park, then a plumbing company, when he found out his knees had more extensive damage last summer.

While Leuci said he is still recovering from the November surgery, he started a new job this month teaching residential wiring at the Tennessee Technology Center at Paris.

When asked if he would have done anything differently during the car accident that night in 2004, Leuci said no.

"If the same thing presented itself again tomorrow, I wouldn't even think twice about it," Leuci said. "I was never obligated to stop and help. I was a volunteer fireman. ... It doesn't matter what it was, what the reason. If it happened again, I would stop in a heartbeat."



From the Voice of the People AC Press published: Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Injured Firefighter / Hamilton Wrong Not to Pay Bill

Regarding the Jan. 22 article about Keith Leuci, "Injured Cologne volunteer firefighter denied benefits":

I have been a volunteer firefighter for 21 years. I went to the Atlantic County Fire Academy with Keith in 1992. I served in Cologne with him until I transferred to Weymouth in October 2005.

I was taught that if you pass by an accident and do not stop to help, you could be held responsible should the person die. I believe this to be the same when I went to the fire academy. Keith is a good friend of mine, and I hope that I would have the courage that he had the day of the accident.

I don't understand why Hamilton Township has been so apprehensive about paying for Keith's injuries. I was told that if you render assistance to another company during a fire and do not go outside the realm of your training, you are covered by your home station's insurance. If a Hamilton Township police officer is at the ShopRite in Egg Harbor Township, off duty, and is shot by a guy he had previously arrested, is he covered by insurance? Would he still be considered a hero? His assistance was not requested when he got shot. If Keith is not covered, why would the police officer be?

If this was a true worker's compensation claim it would have been over long ago, but it is the Joint Insurance Fund, which Hamilton Township has to pay out of pocket. Maybe that is the problem.

DAVID BLAIR
Hammonton



Killers Treated, Heroes Ignored?

Keith Leuci, a Hamilton Township volunteer firefighter, was injured rescuing a man from a burning car in Egg Harbor Township. Leuci sustained injuries but was denied coverage because his fire company was not the one dispatched to the car crash. His injuries and lack of financial support caused him to close down his business and move his family out of state.

Brian Wakefield robbed and murdered Richard and Shirley Hazard in Pleasantville and burned their house down. Although he was convicted and sentenced to death, our Legislature eliminated the death penalty, with Gov. Jon S. Corzine stating that this reflected the "highest values" of our state.

Now Wakefield will spend the rest of his life in prison, where if he gets so much as a common cold, he will be given full medical treatment, courtesy of the taxpayers of New Jersey.

It is a disgrace that the "highest values" of our state are to protect murderers and ignore heroes.

JOSEPH PICARDI
Galloway Township



Readers Comments

Posted by: Jersey Firefighter on Thu Jan 31, 2008, 9:42 AM

Congrads Kieth,if we are suppossed to be avable 24/7/365 then if we are injuried we should be taken care.It is a shame and a disgrace that the courts had to tell the companies involved to do the right thing.

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Posted by: Ken1450HD on Tue Jan 29, 2008, 4:30 PM Dont worry, Keith, inside each cloud is a silver lining. If you are 1000 miles away from "the Garden State", that means you are back in America somewhere. NOT stuck in what used to be a nice place before the politicians ruined it. Long live the Sheeples Republik of N.J.(and dont forget to vote D, of course) I understand that, as well as commuting the sentences of murderers, The Governor or someone also apologized for Slavery. I wonder how many 400 year old slaves he found to apologize to?

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Posted by: FriendsforKeith on Tue Jan 29, 2008, 11:24 AM

Hopefully the insurance company will not drag their feet and postpone compensation any longer than necessary. Three + years is long enough. They moved 1000 miles away from their home AND FAMILY AND FRIENDS so they could TRY to afford to live better. Unfortunately all of their bills from NJ came with them. There is a website set up for donations, after many requests for such. ww.FriendsForKeith.com

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Posted by: grammar school errors on Tue Jan 29, 2008, 10:13 AM

how about if, before we all write to our legislators, "justic regins" learns how to spell the word "justice"? your letter to Trenton will be more effective if you spell it correctly.

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Posted by: Justic reigns on Tue Jan 29, 2008, 10:00

JOSEPH PICARDI is 1000% correct. And to add to this we are also paying for Illegal aliens. But Vets are being denied service. All fos need to not write on this blog, and send our message to every elected official we can..and write them often in great numbers.

Elwood Fire Rescue
https://www.evfc160.com/main/article.php/2008012210440885