A lawsuit filed on behalf of 34 New Jersey firefighters alleging they suffered permanent hearing injuries because of the noise emitted by sirens on fire vehicles has been moved from state Superior Court to federal court in Newark.
The active and inactive firefighters named in the lawsuit include employees from departments in Ridgewood, West New York, Cranford, Kearny, Union Township, Bayonne, Linden and Elizabeth.
Named as defendants are siren manufacturer Federal Signal Corp. and vehicle and apparatus makers American LaFrance, Kovatch Mobile Equipment, Mack Trucks Pierce Manufacturing and Seagrave Fire Apparatus.
An attorney for the plaintiffs, Mark Bern of Bern Ripka in New York City, could not be reached for comment.
Steven Maffei of Lodi, who served on the Ridgewood Fire Department from 1985 until 2013, declined to comment without permission from his attorney.
And Kenneth Trapp of Cliffside Park, who served on the West New York Fire Department from 1965 to 1995, according to court filings, could not be reached for comment.