A firefighter responding to an incident in his personal vehicle must show the same consideration towards the public as he would if he were responding to a vehicle belonging to the municipality. The lack of respect led to a fatal car accident on July 16, 2010, when "Firefighter Timothy Johnson of the Portage Ohio Fire District" collided with a vehicle driven by Olivia Duty, resulting in the death of his boyfriend, Ian Huffman (Varone, 2012, paragraph 2). Timothy Johnson was responding to a fire at a mutual aid facility when the accident occurred (Varone, 2012). The parents of Ian Huffman and Olivia Duty, the driver of the vehicle Firefighter Johnson collided with, "filed wrongful death and personal injury lawsuit" in Ottawa County Common Pleas Court (Feehan, 2012, para. 2). Firefighter Johnson also faced criminal charges of negligent vehicular homicide and attempted negligent vehicular homicide, to which he pleaded guilty and served 9 months in prison (Feehan, 2012). In the civil suit against Firefighter Johnson and the Portage Fire District, the prosecution was tasked with proving that negligence on both sides contributed to the death of Ian Huffman and the attempted homicide by Olivia Duty. Prosecutors allege that "Mr. Johnson was driving his personal vehicle at speeds up to 98 mph on State Rt. 19 while traveling to the Oak Harbor Fire Station just seconds before crashing into the rear of the Ms. Duty’s car at Portage River South Road” (Feehan, 2012, para. 6). The posted speed limit on Portage River South Road was 55 mph at the time of the accident (Curt, 2012). Defense alleges Firefighter Johnson was using his lights and sirens and Ian Huffman was not wearing a seat belt middle of paper......problem many jurisdictions and professional organizations have set the industry standard to obey the speed limit or only 10 mph above in an emergency. Fire departments must take this into account and follow industry standards, otherwise they and their members could become the next defendants in a courtroom due to negligence.ReferencesVarone, C. (2012). Another tragedy stems from a fatal POV crash in Ohio. Retrieved from http://firelawblog.comFeehan, J. (October 17, 2012). Parents and girlfriend agree to $1.57 million to settle lawsuit. THE BLADE. Retrieved from http://www.toledoblade.com/Courts/2012/10/17/Parents-girlfriend-accept-1-57M-to-settle-lawsuit.htmlSpeed ​​limits not applicable to emergency or public safety vehicles , Ohio Codes 4511.24 § 24 (1975).Varone, J.C. (2012). Legal Considerations for Fire and Emergency Services (2nd ed.). Clifton Park, New York: Delmar.