Fire Rescue News- Respond To Wires Down
A Monmouth County (New Jersey) court is holding a fire department 60% responsible and the electric power company 40% responsible for injuries suffered when a man stepped on a downed 7200 volt electric line in his.....Continue Reading
home driveway. The damage award was $20.5M.
THE ISSUE: The court determined that the fire department departed the scene without taking sufficient action to prevent the accident. The jury awarded the $20.5 million in damages Friday after the man lost an arm and a leg in 2007 after stepping on those live electrical wires that had fallen on his driveway during a storm. The man was awarded $18.5 million and his wife, Patricia, was awarded $2 million. A jury deliberated more than 5 hours last week before they returned the unanimous verdict that found Jersey Central Power & Light Co. 40 percent responsible for the injuries and the Northside Engine Company, a fire company in Tinton Falls, 60 percent responsible. The settlement amount was to cover medical costs, disability, deformity, physical suffering and the cost of prosthetic devices which have to be changed every three to five years.
