Excerpts from pjstar.com:
The mother of a 4-year-old boy who died in a house fire over the summer has sued the village of Bartonville, saying its fire department’s response to the fire was inadequate.
The suit, filed Sept. 18 in Peoria County Circuit Court, is a wrongful death suit and seeks at least $50,000 in damages — the statutory threshold for such a suit. The suit was filed by Javelyn McGrane, on behalf of her son, John Bankes III’s, estate.
Bankes died on July 17 in a fire at his father’s house in the 300 block of Buena Vista Street in Bartonville. The case of the fire remains under investigation by the Illinois State Fire Marshal.
The fire has been controversial, with some questioning why volunteer firefighters in the Bartonville department didn’t immediately call Peoria’s fire department. The city’s southernmost station is about five to six minutes from where the fire was and is staffed 24 hours day.
Contained within the 11-page suit are more details about what happened that day. The suit claims Bankes, 4, was napping on a couch while his father, John Bankes II, took the dog out for a walk. During this time, the house caught on fire and his father called 911 at 11:41 a.m. The suit claims it took Bartonville’s volunteer firefighters a total of 12 minutes to arrive at their station and then arrive at the house. The suit notes it would have taken the city of Peoria’s firefighters from House 4, the closest station, about eight minutes. The house, the suit said, burned down completely in 17 minutes.
Not calling Peoria, the suit states, “showed an utter disregard for (Bankes’) safety.”
That timeline, however, isn’t what Bartonville Fire Chief Mike Cheatham told the Journal Star in August. Then, the chief said two fire engines and 11 firefighters were out the door within five minutes of receiving the call.
The suit also claims the fire department didn’t train its firefighters to properly request backup and that shows an utter indifference for the safety of others. However, in August, Cheatham said the fire captain who responded initially to the fire called for backup before he left the station. The reason behind that wasn’t clear, but Cheatham said that it could have been due to the heat and the need to cycle firefighters out of a fire to recuperate.
