Had the closest Wilmington fire truck able to carry water been in service the night a Canby Park rowhome went up in flames, more than 1,700 gallons of water would have doused the house before the first floor collapsed, trapping three firefighters, according to a federal lawsuit filed Thursday.
The blaze killed three firefighters, a result that this lawsuit — filed on behalf of families of the dead and three others seriously injured — blames on a years-old cost-saving policy, called rolling bypasses, it says is proven to be unsuccessful at reducing overtime costs and keeping firefighters safe. The 75-page suit argues that city officials willfully ignored this information for 7 years and allowed the deaths of these firefighters to occur in 2016.