Deliberations begin in a wrongful death case alleging Rock Falls chiefs showed willful, wanton disregard in the 2021 fire that killed Sterling Lt. Garrett Ramos

By Charlene Bielema
Daily Gazette

STERLING, Ill. — A Whiteside County jury is on track to begin deliberating Friday to decide whether two Rock Falls fire officials’ actions at a 2021 fire contributed to a Sterling firefighter’s line-of-duty death.

Brittney Ramos filed the wrongful death lawsuit in December 2022, a year after her husband, Sterling Fire Lt. Garrett Ramos, died after he fell through a burning floor and into a basement while fighting a Dec. 3, 2021, fire at 10031 Ridge Road in Rock Falls.

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Brittney is claiming that then- Rock Falls Fire Chief Cris Bouwens and Fire Chief Ken Wolf, who was the accountability officer at the scene and was Rock Falls’ deputy fire chief at the time, showed willful and wanton disregard that caused her husband’s death. The city of Rock Falls is also listed as a defendant.

The city, Bouwens, and Wolf have countered that Ramos was partially responsible for missteps that contributed to his own death.

Testimony in the trial wrapped up Thursday afternoon, the eighth day of the trial, during which the jury had heard testimony from several firefighters who worked the scene, Bouwens, Wolf, and retired Sterling Fire Chief Mike Dettman, fire and economics expert witnesses, the resident who reported the fire, and Ramos’ family members.

Jurors on Thursday continued to hear the defense’s side of the case through testimony from Rock Falls Fire Captains. Derick Newton and Matthew Kobbeman, both of whom were inside the burning structure with Ramos as they tried to stop the fire’s spread from the burning attached garage into the home’s living area.

Under questioning by defense attorney Michael Kujawa and cross-examination by Ramos’s attorneys Michael Gallagher and Michael Kosner, the two were asked about fire conditions at the scene when they arrived, what their duties were, and whether they felt the offensive fire strategy that put them and Ramos inside the burning home was too risky.

Those questions often focused on how the fire scene was playing out minute by minute over the course of the hour between when the fire was reported at 11:04 p.m. Dec. 3 until a fallen firefighter issued a mayday call at 12:03 a.m. Dec. 4 . That mayday call came just shortly after firefighters discovered a partial floor collapse and had just learned the home had a basement.

A second mayday call within the next 60 seconds was heard, but the firefighter did not say his name nor where he was, and did not respond when Dettman asked for more information.

Kobbeman testified that firefighters, upon hearing the mayday, at first thought it had come from firefighter O’Brien; when he was found, there was a collective sigh of relief because they thought all firefighters were accounted for. Firefighters later became concerned when learning that Ramos’ partner had not seen him for a while and began a search of the home.

Ramos’ body was discovered 30 minutes after he fell into the basement; investigators determined Ramos was not injured by the fall, according to Kosner, who said that after he fell, Ramos made his way into another room in the basement, indicating he was trying to find a way out. He died of asphyxia after his self-contained breathing apparatus ran out of air.

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Kobbeman, who was the first firefighter inside the structure, testified that he did not feel unsafe fighting the fire from inside the home even though there was fire in the attic above them. He said the goal was to save the family’s property, including any personal belongings.

“It was nothing worse than anything else I’d seen,” Kobbeman said of the fire. “I had no fear of anything happening.”

Fire investigator Wendy Sanders testified Friday, Nov. 7, using an animated model that depicted the burning structure. Sanders’ timeline started from when the 911 call was made at 11:04 p.m. by the home’s basement resident, who reported the attached garage was burning and there were flames shooting through the roof — up until Ramos’ body was recovered from the home’s basement at 1:13 a.m. Dec. 4.

She described a string of failures that began when Bouwens drove two miles directly from his home to the scene. He was the first firefighter to arrive and, as such, was the incident commander, a role that would make him the person responsible for the overall firefighting strategy.

Sanders said that the role includes carrying out National Fire Protection Association standards that include asking if the home has a basement and, if it does, whether it is a finished or unfinished basement.

Sanders said Bouwens did not ask that question, nor did he talk to the 911 caller, who was at the scene throughout the fire. Ramos’s attorneys have worked to prove to the jury that the fire would not have turned fatal had Bouwens interviewed the resident, learned about the basement, and passed that information on to command staff that included Dettman, who served as the operations officer at the front of the home while directing firefighters in and out of the structure.

Ramos’s attorneys throughout the trial have maintained firemen were kept in the building too long fighting a losing battle: The home was unsalvageable, they have said, while pointing to firefighters’ reports of fallen trusses, indications of an attic fire that had spread along the entire top of the house, and a hole in the floor.

Ramos’s attorneys have focused on National Fire Protection Association standards that state no risk should be taken by firefighters if everyone is out of the house and the property is unsalvageable.

Sanders testified that no one should have been inside the home after 11:25 p.m.; however, firefighters, who thought they were seeing progress in stopping the fire, were directed into the home’s interior to fight flames up until just before midnight. Investigators have determined that a partial floor collapse happened around 11:55 p.m., with the mayday heard eight minutes later.

Ramos’s attorneys also have been critical of Bouwens and Wolf’s handling of the mayday and ensuring all firefighters were accounted for. Gallagher has said that according to NFPA and Rock Falls Fire Department guidelines, it’s the responsibility of the incident commander — in this case, Bouwens — or the accountability officer in charge of keeping track of firefighters’ whereabouts — in this case, Wolf — to immediately call a personnel accountability report after a mayday or a significant event such as a floor collapse.

Gallagher asked Bouwens if he violated Rock Falls Fire Department policy by failing to call a PAR. Bouwens, when testifying, agreed.

Bouwens also testified that he didn’t ask for another PAR or ask it to be corrected, as the one that was called was incomplete. Crews weren’t asked to reply with the name of their department, truck number, and number of firefighters in that group, and whether they were accounted for.

Wolf testified that he lost track of which firefighters were accounted for, that the scene was chaotic, and that he was new to the job.

The jury is to return to the courtroom at 9 a.m. Friday, and will ultimately decide whether the defendants showed willful and wanton disregard and whether Brittney Ramos should be awarded financial damages.

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