Bill Lukitsch

The Kansas City Star

(MCT)

A Jackson County judge has approved a $32 million arbitration award rendered against Kansas City firefighter Dominic Biscari stemming from a fatal crash involving a fire engine that left three people dead in Westport in December.

Judge Jennifer M. Phillips confirmed the settlement in an order on Tuesday in accordance with Missouri law that such awards be approved by the court. The judgment, which concerns Biscari personally, came through arbitration proceedings that concluded last month.

On Dec. 15, Biscari was behind the wheel of Kansas City Fire Pumper 19 when the engine was headed north on Broadway Boulevard and struck an SUV at Westport Road shortly after being called to a reported structure fire. The crash happened about one minute after the fire crew was advised by dispatchers to stand down.

The SUV, occupied by Jennifer San Nicolas and Michael Elwood, was pushed through the intersection and up Broadway as the fire engine continued on into a series of cars parked along the street. Tammi Knight, a pedestrian who was about to enter a vehicle, was struck as the fire engine crashed into her and through the facade of a commercial building that once housed a popular bar.

The SUV was pushed onto the sidewalk. After the fire engine busted through a brick wall, the building’s upper floor collapsed, trapping Knight underneath a pile of rubble for 10 hours. All three were declared dead at the scene.

In October, retired Judge Miles Sweeney — assigned to oversee arbitration proceedings in the matter of wrongful death claims brought against Biscari specifically — found that his driving that night was clearly reckless and that KCFD was already “on notice of (Biscari’s) dangerous and reckless driving of KCFD vehicles.”

In his summary, Sweeney found that loved ones of the victims — and the owner of the destroyed building — deserved to be paid a collective $32 million by Biscari in compensation.

Sweeney awarded $9 million to parents of Elwood; $11 million to the mother of Knight, and $2 million to Knight’s romantic partner; and $9 million to the mother of San Nicolas. Another $1.4 million was awarded to the company that owns the destroyed building.

Biscari was not represented by legal counsel in the civil lawsuit and agreed to handle the wrongful death claims through arbitration.

Biscari also likely does not have $32 million to pay the families. But civil attorneys may be attempting to hold KCFD accountable for the sum through a legal mechanism known as vicarious liability, where an employer may be held responsible for the actions of an employee during the official course of duty. Tim Dollar, the designated lead civil attorney on the case, has declined to comment.

Attorneys for the families allege the city and the fire department were negligent in allowing Biscari to operate a 40,000-pound fire engine on the night of the crash. Among the evidence they have cited is a warning one employee shared with fire officials a little less than three months b

The town of New Tazewell bought a refurbished 2002 Sutphen ladder truck recently with the help of a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), ClaiborneProgress.net reported.

New Tazewell agreed to pay the eight percent matching portion to acquire the CDBG that paid for the refurbished truck, the report said. It took some 26 months but, according to a fire official, ‘she is a beauty and a real asset to the station.’

The CDBG funds came to $456,500 including the eight percent match from the city, the report said. After fees, equipment, warranty and other administrative costs, the truck was bid and purchased for some $439,000.

The Fort Worth Fire Department is replacing 11 fire trucks and will add personal protective equipment to supplement a gear exchange program, according to a press release from FortWorthTexas.gov.

The city council recently approved spending $14 million with Siddons Martin Emergency Group to buy new trucks that will replace aging apparatus. Once the order is placed, the new trucks will be delivered in a little more than two years.

The department will also spend approximately $5.4 million over the next four years to buy gear and extractors used to clean the gear. The contract is with Ohio-based Lion First Responder PPE and Alabama-based North America Fire Equipment Co.

Firefighters borrow gear from the exchange program when their personal set is being cleaned.

The new trucks will replace older trucks that have reached their service life. That is determined by age, hours of use and maintenance costs. Engine trucks, for example, are replaced within eight to 10 years and then become a reserve for another five to seven years.

On October 27, after nearly three years of planning and assessment, the Orange County Fire Authority Board of Directors approved the purchase of two new Sikorsky S70 FIREHAWK helicopters, AerialFireMag.com reported. The new aircraft will replace the two OCFA 1966 UH-1H “Super Hueys” that were grounded in 2020 due to significantly increased cost of operating these legacy aircraft.

FIREHAWKS have become the industry standard across the Southern California fire service, and with this approval, the OCFA joins its surrounding peer agencies — Santa Barbara Fire, Ventura County Fire, LA County Fire, San Diego Fire, and CAL FIRE — that already have FIREHAWK helicopters in their respective fleets, the report said.

Malvern Fire Department held an official grand opening Tuesday of its new fire station, located at 712 W. Moline Street, with a public dedication and “hose uncoupling” ceremony, Malvern-Online.com reported. The hose uncoupling is common practice for fire stations, in lieu of the usual ribbon cutting protocol.

The new fire station on Moline Street is positioned where the former North Malvern Station sat from 1954 until early 2021. The new facility will be known as Fire Station No. 1, the report said. The other station in Malvern, located at 1107 South Main Street, is referred to as Fire Station No. 2.

The new fire station is a large and modern two-story building with a public lobby entrance, large and spacious bays and pleasant living quarters for the firefighters who reside there during their work shifts, the report said. The new layout and situation of the building offers easy maneuverability for the emergency response vehicles.