Widow of firefighter killed during chain saw training sues fire department

John_Curry
John Curry. Photo: Volusia County Fire Services

The widow of John Curry, who was killed during tree felling training in Florida on November 27, 2007, is suing the Volusia County Fire Services. Kristen Curry is claiming a “lack of training, instruction, preparation and warning” led to her husband’s death.

Wildfire Today covered this accident on April 7, 2009 when the report was issued:

Curry was 30 years old and had been a member of Volusia County Fire Services  for 10 months. He was training to be a member of the elite Firewalker Wildland Team and left behind a wife and two children.

The incident occurred during a training class at the Volusia County Fire Training Center near Datona Beach, Florida.

According to the report the trainees watched only 2 hours of a 4 hour training video. Then during tree felling field training, the cuts on an [18-inch] pine tree were not completed properly, causing the tree to fall in an unexpected direction.  It fell onto Curry’s escape route, killing him.  The report said there was no one at the training site to keep him from running where the tree eventually fell.

The State Fire Marshal’s office issued a Notice of violation for:

  • Failure to provide adequate training to meet “Trained Commensurate to Duty” requirements.
  • Failure to provide a safe workplace.

The State Fire Marshal’s report is available on our Documents page.

Kristen Curry is seeking compensation for the loss of her husband’s future “support and services”, as well as compensatory damages for her and her son’s mental pain and suffering.

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