Johnson v. City of Phila.
| Decision Date | 31 July 2019 |
| Docket Number | CIVIL ACTION NO. 18-4665 |
| Citation | 397 F.Supp.3d 692 |
| Parties | Tamika JOHNSON, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
Thomas A. Lynam, III, Leonard G. Villari, Villari Lentz & Lynam LLC, Philadelphia, PA, for Plaintiff.
Matthew K. Hubbard, City of Phila. Law Dept., Philadelphia, PA, for Defendants.
This tragic case arises from the death of three individuals. The decedents are Alita Johnson ("Alita"), Haashim Johnson ("Haashim"), and Horace McCoullem ("Horace") (collectively, "Decedents"). Plaintiff Tamika Johnson ("Plaintiff") is the administratrix of their estates.1 On March 20, 2018, a fire ignited on the second floor of a residential building that contained several apartments. Alita, Haashim, and Horace lived in one apartment on the third floor. Minutes after the fire began, Alita called 911.
When a citizen calls 911 to report a fire or request emergency services, the 911 operator that answers the call usually transfers it to a Philadelphia Fire Department Operator ("PFD Operator"). The PFD Operator then coordinates with a Philadelphia Fire Department dispatcher ("PFD Dispatcher") to send firefighters and Emergency Medical Services ("EMS") personnel to the scene, if necessary.
As expected, when Alita called 911, she spoke to a 911 operator. She told the 911 operator that there was a fire at her home, gave her the address, and mentioned that she was on the third floor of the building. Following the procedure described above, the 911 operator transferred her call to a PFD Operator. When the call was transferred, the 911 Operator conveyed to the PFD Operator an incorrect address for Alita. As a result, the PFD Operator conveyed the incorrect address to the PFD Dispatcher, who dispatched firefighters to the wrong location. When she dispatched the firefighters, the PFD Dispatcher told them that she received "reports" concerning an area on the third floor. Regarding the "reports," it is unclear what information she reported to the firefighters.
After her first 911 call ended, Alita called 911 again and was transferred directly to the PFD Operator. She repeated that a fire had ignited in her building and confirmed that she was waiting for help in an area on the third floor. In response, the PFD Operator instructed her to seclude herself, Horace and Haashim in a room on the third floor, with the door closed and the window open until firefighters arrived to rescue them. Realizing at this point that she originally communicated the incorrect address, the PFD Operator then relayed Alita's correct address to the PFD Dispatcher, who rerouted the firefighters to Alita's building. When the PFD Dispatcher communicated the correct address to the firefighters, she did not reiterate the "report" she received about the third floor.
Firefighters arrived at the building with no knowledge that Alita, Horace and Haashim were waiting to be rescued on the third floor. After extinguishing the fire on the second and third floors, they left the premises. Alita, Horace, and Haashim remained secluded in a room on the third floor of the building, where they died from smoke inhalation. City of Philadelphia ("City") officials discovered their bodies three days later.
Plaintiff sued the City of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Fire Department,2 Adam Thiel, Philadelphia Fire Department Operator Jane Doe, and Philadelphia Fire Department Dispatcher Jane Doe (collectively, "Defendants"). She seeks damages for the following claims:
(Doc. No. 1.)
Before the Court is Defendants' Motion to Dismiss the Complaint in its entirety. (Doc. No. 9.) Plaintiff filed a Response in Opposition (Doc. No. 10) and Defendants filed a Reply (Doc. No. 11.) Plaintiff then filed a Sur-Reply (Doc. No. 12). For reasons discussed infra, Defendants' Motion to Dismiss will be granted in part and denied in part.
The building that caught fire was a single-family, three-story row home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Doc. No. 1 ¶ 128.) Although the property was not zoned or licensed as a multi-family dwelling or boarding house, the owners of the building illegally rented each floor to one or more families, with each tenant family occupying a separate floor. (Id. ¶ 129.) When it caught fire, the building did not contain functioning smoke detectors or adequate fire escapes. (Id. ¶ 131.) As noted above, Decedents lived together in a unit on third floor. (Id. ¶ 5.)
On March 20, 2018, around 11:30 p.m., a fire ignited inside of a second-floor unit of the building. (Id. ¶ 26.) Its cause is unknown. At 11:38 p.m., Alita called 911 to report the fire. (Id. ¶ 27.) The first person she spoke to was a 911 Operator. After stating that she was calling to report a fire, she told the 911 Operator her address. (Id. ) Following the protocol described above, the 911 Operator transferred her call to the PFD Operator. While transferring the call, the 911 Operator did not convey to the PFD Operator the correct address that Alita gave her. (Id. ¶ 29.) She relayed the incorrect street number. (Id. ) The PFD Operator provided this erroneous address to the PFD Dispatcher, who sent firefighters to the wrong location. (Id. ¶ 30.) When the PFD Dispatcher sent firefighters to the incorrect address, she told them that she was getting "reports" concerning the third-floor rear of the burning building. (Id. ¶ 31.)
Importantly, the allegations in the Complaint do not explain what "reports" the PFD Dispatcher received from the PFD Operator that were subsequently conveyed to firefighters. Although Alita told the 911 Operator that she was on the third floor of the burning building with two other people, (id. ¶ 25), it is unclear if this information was conveyed to the PFD Operator and then to the PFD Dispatcher when her call was transferred. (Id. ¶ 31.)
Alita's first 911 call dropped. At 11:40 p.m., she called 911 a second time and was transferred from the 911 Operator that answered her second call directly to the PFD Operator. (Id. ¶ 32.) Alita repeated that she was calling about a fire emergency in her building. (Id. ¶ 33.) In response, the PFD Operator instructed Alita to go to a room in the back of the building, shut the door, open the window, and place a towel at the bottom of the door. (Id. ¶ 34.) The PFD Operator assured Alita that rescuers would arrive shortly. (Id. ) The PFD Operator then relayed the correct address of the burning building to the PFD Dispatcher, who rerouted the firefighters. (Id. ¶ 35.) When the PFD Operator told the PFD Dispatcher the correct address, she did not state that she instructed three individuals to wait for help in a room on the third floor. When the PFD Dispatcher rerouted the firefighters, she did not repeat to them that she had received reports concerning the third floor of the building. (Id. )
At 11:42 p.m., during the same call, Alita confirmed to the PFD Operator that she followed the earlier instructions and closed herself inside a room on third floor with Horace and Haashim. (Id. ¶ 36.) She specifically confirmed that they were on the third floor "all the way in the back" of the house. (Id. ¶ 37.) Alita remained on the phone with the PFD Operator while multiple firefighter units, who were equipped with ladder trucks, arrived at the residence between 11:42 p.m. and 11:44 p.m. (Id. ¶ 38.) Because they relied on the PFD Operator's assurances that firefighters were coming to rescue them, Decedents did not attempt to escape the burning building in other ways available to them.3 (Id. ¶ 40.)
The PFD Operator stayed on the phone with Alita until 11:48 p.m., when the second 911 call disconnected. (Id. ¶ 44.) Throughout the call, the PFD Operator constantly assured Alita that firefighters were on their way. (Id. ¶ 41.)
When firefighters arrived at the building, they reached the property's second floor through the interior stairs and second-floor windows. (Id. ¶ 42.) They extinguished the fire on the second floor and then searched for survivors there. (Id. ¶ 43.) After ensuring that the second floor was clear of inhabitants, they moved to the third floor by using the interior stairs and third-floor windows. (Id. ¶¶ 45, 46.)
Around 12:00 a.m., the interior steps between the second and third floor collapsed. (Id. ¶ 48.) At this point, there were four firefighters on the third floor who needed to be rescued from the building by other firefighters. (Id. ¶ 49.) At 12:04 a.m., firefighters placed exterior ladders at the front and rear windows of the third floor to rescue the firefighters that remained inside. (Id. ¶ 50.)
At 12:14 a.m., firefighters on the third floor reported that the fire had been "knocked down," meaning it was completely extinguished. (Id. ¶ 53.) All firefighters then withdrew from the building. (Id. ¶ 54.) They did not know that Alita, Horace and Haashim were still on the third floor expecting to be rescued. At 12:19 a.m., firefighters reported to the PFD that the fire at this location was under control. (Id. ¶ 56.) The PFD considered this to be the end of the emergency.
Three days later, PFD personnel...
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