By Ivan H. Golden
Staff Writer
December 7, 2004
A Greenwich firefighter injured in the Davis Avenue blaze last year filed a lawsuit Friday against the town and Fire Department Chief Daniel Warzoha.
Kennard Ray Little, who fractured his pelvis, three ribs and his wrist when he jumped from a fourth-story window to escape the fire, claims in the suit that Warzoha made several critical errors while in command of the fire scene.
Little's suit, filed one year after the Dec. 5, 2003, fire, also renews accusations that Warzoha was impaired when he assumed command.
The Greenwich Firefighters Association Local 1042, the firefighters' union, charged last winter that Warzoha drank at the Polish Club of Glenville before going to the fire, but an investigation commissioned by the town concluded that the chief was not impaired.
Neither Warzoha nor the town attorney's office would comment yesterday on the suit, which was filed in state Superior Court in New Haven, not far from Little's home in Hamden. The suit seeks unspecified damages.
Little referred all questions to his lawyer, Donna Civitello, who could not be reached for comment.
Little's suit also names his wife, Grace Little, as a plaintiff. According to the complaint, Kennard Little has "experienced stress in his marriage and in his relationship with his two small children" as a result of the injuries he suffered in the fire.
The suit claims that Little has been unable to work -- either as a firefighter or in his second career as a model/actor -- since the fire and that, in addition to his physical injuries, he has suffered from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Little continues to receive workers' compensation benefits from the town, according to the lawsuit. To date, he has received about $100,000.
Five firefighters were injured in the fire at 312 Davis Ave. Little, Deputy Chief Mike Puterbaugh and firefigher Erik Maziarz were seriously injured when they jumped from the building's fourth-floor attic to escape the flames.
The day after the fire, several firefighters were recorded on the town's emergency radio system, complaining that the scene was disorganized and questioning why ladders were not placed in the fourth-story windows, which would have given the firefighters a safer means to escape the burning building.
Almost immediately after the fire, state and town officials began questioning the fire department's response, and both the town and the firefighters' union launched investigations.
On Jan. 22, a division of the state Department of Labor fined the Greenwich Fire Department $560 for failing to track the whereabouts of firefighters during the fire.
In January, the firefighters' union said that Warzoha had been drinking before the fire and demanded his resignation. First Selectman Jim Lash suspended Warzoha from command at fire scenes, pending the outcome of the town's investigation.
In February, that investigation concluded that Warzoha had a couple of drinks but was not impaired when he assumed control of the fire scene, and Lash reinstated him.
In another report, an independent fire review panel recommended the town adopt a no-tolerance drug and alcohol policy with regard to firefighters and supervisors responding to incidents.
"Because the department does not have a zero tolerance policy, there is a shadow of a doubt over the incident in this area," the panel wrote.
But according to Little's suit, Warzoha "violated Greenwich Fire Department rules, the Town Charter, state and federal regulations and standard firefighting practices by reporting to the scene of a fire after imbibing alcohol." The suit claims that Warzoha was "mentally and physically impaired by his consumption of alcoholic beverages" and catalogues a chaotic fire scene.
According to Little's complaint, Warzoha:
* Ordered Little and two other firefighters to re-enter the burning building and search for two missing children, even after he was told by a dispatcher that the children were safe and not inside the building.
* Did not have the building ventilated according to standard firefighting procedure. As a result, "the fire became uncontrollable and unreasonably hazardous."
* Failed to set up a rescue team, even as the fire burned out of control with three firefighters trapped inside the building.
* Failed to provide ground ladders or other escape routes for the trapped firefighters, in violation of standard firefighting practice, and took no action even after he was specifically advised that no ladders or escape routes were in place.
The lawsuit's allegations are consistent with the Report of the Independent Fire Review Panel.
The town has until Jan. 18 to respond to the lawsuit.
Little's lawsuit did not come as a surprise: The firefighter filed a notice in June informing the town that he planned to sue. And Lash said the town anticipated many of his accusations against the fire chief.
Copyright © 2004, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.