You get the call. There's been an accident. One of your firefighters is dead. What do you do next? If you think establishing a firefighter-fatality protocol would somehow tempt fate, think again. A chief I spoke with never thought about it either until he was faced with the accidental death of one of his firefighters.

For legal reasons I have agreed not to identify him and his department; however, the event is very real. A young officer was acting chief and responding to an alarm when the apparatus he was following was involved in a fatal traffic accident. One firefighter was pronounced dead at the scene and other firefighters were injured.

As word of the fatal accident reached the local government office, the village attorney quickly responded to take charge of all public announcements. The acting chief had never spoken with a newspaper reporter let alone a TV anchor. When requests came for interviews, the acting chief would call the mayor's office for guidance.

Shortly after the accident, the acting chief was promoted to chief of department and inherited the follow-up to the accident. Reports for a fatality multiply quickly: the Department of Labor, NIOSH, the state Department of Transportation, insurance and more. The chief had to track down all the documentation for the reports. Because he always was a fairly conscientious person, there was a good paper trail of phone messages, handwritten notes and reports received. The chief devoted a file drawer to the accident.

I asked him if he had anything to share, and he said there were a couple of lessons. Among his suggestions: “Have legal access available. Having never talked to a newscaster before, having permission on what to say was helpful.” Also, “The firefighter's family is a priority. Don't push yourself on the family; work with them.”

Chiefs and officers face any number of situations that could have legal ramifications. A fire chief from the South writes, “One of the more abused and ‘hidden’ legal issues that is like a cancer throughout the fire service and badly needs to be addressed is that of discrimination and reverse-discrimination lawsuits.” It seems internal lawsuits are filed with every promotion.

How about when department personnel travel to trade shows and conferences, are they covered by your department's insurance, workers' compensation or other travel insurance? If you pay just for their registration but not their transportation, are you responsible for any liability to and from the conference?

How about a volunteer fire department women's auxiliary suing the department for misappropriation of funds? It seems the department used the money donated by the auxiliary to buy fitness equipment. The auxiliary feels that's a “frivolous luxury” and is suing the department!

When should you call a lawyer and advise him or her of possible litigation? It depends.

At what point after an accident or incident should you determine its time to call your lawyer? It depends.

For these questions and many others, Fire Chief has decided to host a Legal Issues Seminar for chiefs and chief officers. This first in our Keys to Leadership series of seminars will bring together lawyers, fire chiefs and even an expert witness from the fire industry to spend a day and a half to help you better understand your role within the legal system. Topics will include “Fire Service Liability: Is Your Rowboat Ready if the Dam Breaks?” by chief and attorney David Comstock and “Discrimination & Employment Harassment” by Dennis Favaro and Andrew Haber of Favaro & Gorman. For more information, visit our Web site at http://firechief.com/keystoleadership/.

In the end, fire chiefs will be held responsible for the actions — or lack of actions — of their staff and personnel. Attempts to change the fire service culture to be proactive for safety are starting to work. For those departments that refuse to change, ultimately lawyers will help them change.