Fallen York firefighters’ widows allege negligence, wrongful death in lawsuit
York City firefighters Ivan Flanscha, 50, of Red Lion (left), and Zachary Anthony, 29, of York, will be memorialized this Wednesday at York Fairgrounds. (Photo: submitted)
An initial civil suit against city engineering firm, C.S. Davidson, has been dropped
(York) — The widows of the two York City firefighters who were killed when a floor collapsed during a mop-up operation of the Weaver Piano building fire have named new defendants in wrongful death suits.
On March 22, Ivan Flanscha, 50, of Red Lion, and Zachary Anthony, 29, of York, were on the fourth floor of the building dealing with hot spots on day two of the fire when it collapsed. Both men were killed.
Casey Flanscha and Allison Brooke Hoffman, widows and administrators of the firefighters’ estates, initially brought suit against C.S. Davidson Inc., which the city contracts with for engineering services.
C.S. Davidson Inc. President and CEO Kerryn Fulton previously said the company did not have any involvement with the building until after the firefighters died.
No complaints were filed in those suits, which were listed in the York County Prothonotary’s Office as discontinued on Thursday.
Now, the widows have filed a joint suit as estate administrators against Carney Engineering Group and Josh Carney, identified in the complaint as president of the Carney Group.
The company did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
The complaint alleges the deaths of Flanscha and Anthony were “caused directly and proximately by the negligent, careless, intentional and/or reckless conduct” of the defendants.
The suit alleges professional negligence and wrongful death and seeks survival action benefits and other damages in excess of $50,000 for each count for each estate.
ATF investigators watch the bucket of heavy equipment as is sifts through the rubble of the fire scene of the former Weaver Organ and Piano building Sunday morning. Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record
The complaint alleges that Carney Engineering deemed the Weaver building safe for firefighters to enter for the hot-spot operation.
Specifically, the suit contends the defendants “failed to conduct a complete and adequate survey of the building to determine its structural integrity,” failed to inform the fire department that the building was in danger of imminent collapse, and communicated to the fire department that the building was structurally sound.
This story comes to us through a partnership between WITF and The York Daily Record.
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