VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. --
A scathing investigation blames Volusia County for the death of a firefighter in training 17 months ago and victim's family told Eyewitness News it's ready to sue.
John Curry was killed in November 2007 while learning to cut down trees in the event of a wildfire. An internal investigation Eyewitness News obtained says Curry and other trainees were sorely unprepared and didn't have the basic skills or supervision they needed to train safely.
There will be some pretty big consequences for the fire department out of all of this. The fire marshal says the county failed to provide a safe workplace, so now all firefighters will be required to be retrained.
Even with those conclusions, the county refuses to accept any blame.
Four-year-old Owen Curry wears his firefighter uniform every day in memory of his dad, John Curry, but Tuesday is mother Kristen was having a harder time dealing with her husband's death as the fire marshal released the findings of John's death investigation.
"You can't but be upset, because our whole life was taken from us," Kristen said.
Curry was on an elite fire walker team for Volusia County and died during a training accident in 2007. The report said the county had violated safety issues, writing that "inexperienced and untrained trainees were placed in positions they were not prepared to perform."
Curry had never been trained for the drill, but was assigned as a spotter for a man to cut down a tree. The tree wasn't cut correctly and, instead of falling at an expected angle, it twisted 135 degrees off its stump.
At that point, the instructor realized the tree was falling on the escape path, so he ran into the woods. But Curry didn't know that and, when he ran to the escape route for safety, he was hit and killed by the tree.
Attorney Geoff Bichler believes Volusia County knowingly placed their firefighters in a dangerous situation with inadequate training.
"This is a case of such gross negligence it should be a crime. The blood of John Curry is on the hands of this agency based on these failures," Bichler said.
"We wouldn't agree with that assessment at all. We have excellent training," said Dave Byron, Volusia County spokesman.
The county said it will comply with all the recommendations in the report.
Curry is the process of filing a lawsuit. State statue allows $100,000 per person or $200,000 per case. If a jury awards more money, then the state can pass a bill and make up the difference.
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