Families Of Firefighters Killed In Baltimore Row Home Blaze Sue City

BALTIMORE, MD — The families of three firefighters killed two years ago while battling a blaze at a vacant row home on Baltimore's Stricker Street are suing the city, claiming officials were negligent by not maintaining and marking unsafe buildings, according to multiple reports.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court claims the Baltimore Mayor’s Office and City Council failed to follow through on a promise to catalog dangerous and structurally unsound buildings, the Baltimore Banner reported. If they had, firefighters would not have been in structures deemed likely to collapse.

“The city’s deliberate indifference to the death trap it created is egregious and shocks the conscience,” wrote Allen Honick, one of the lawyers for the families, in the lawsuit also obtained by the Baltimore Sun.

The lawsuit was filed by the families of Lt. Kelsey Sadler, Lt. Paul Butrim, and EMT/firefighter Kenny Lacayo, who died on Jan. 24, 2022.

While battling a two-alarm fire at 205 S. Stricker St. in Baltimore, a partial building collapse occurred and Sadler, Butrim, and Lacayo were among four firefighters who became trapped inside the building.

Lacayo, of Silver Spring, and Sadler — who was originally from Harford County were pulled from the fire and taken to the hospital where both died a short time later. After the fire was completely extinguished, Butrim was recovered from the home and pronounced dead at the scene.

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Nearly a year after the fire, Baltimore Fire Chief Niles Ford resigned following the release of a city report connected to the firefighters' deaths.

The 182-page report determined a "sense of rivalry and competitive culture" in the city’s fire department is a problem, yet it stopped short of blaming that culture for the deaths.

"There’s some stuff that remains which I just can’t accept," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said in an interview with the Sun. "This is about us moving forward and turning the page."

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives later determined the fire was set, either intentionally or accidentally, as a result of criminal activity. The firefighters' deaths were also ruled homicides.

The families are seeking unspecified damages in excess of $75,000, reports said.