Florida Man Wants To Sue Fire Department

A POLK COUNTY, FLORIDA, MAN IS SO ANGRY ABOUT HIS house burning down on Thursday that he wants to sue the fire department.

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Tampa Ch. 10 image

Dennis Coder’s isolated property, the Drift-In Resort, is an extensive “Tiki paradise” complete with ticky-tacky bungalows and pavillions that are rented out for weddings, receptions, etc. A fire broke out in one of the mobile homes that he keeps on the site and spread over to Coder’s two-story house and garage.

When the Polk County Fire Dept. units arrived on the scene they found the mobile home fully involved and attempted to knock down the fire in Coder’s residence. But since the nearest water source was a hydrant which is more than a mile away, they had to wait for a tanker to arrive on the scene and begin shuttle operations.

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Ledger photo

Complicating the attack was the fact that the access road is very narrow and is congested with his Tiki huts and assorted decorations that hindered the apparatus.

According to an earlier article in the Lakeland Ledger Coder has transformed a former fish camp into this newer resort in the past year. Besides doing all of the tasks in running the resort, he does landscaping and housepainting, and sells women’s clothing online.

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Dennis Coder (Ledger photo)

He says that instead of buying advertising to promote his resort, “I’m going to bars and buying drinks and handing out cards. That’s my personal touch.”

Now Coder is going around to the local news media flashing a homemade video that he took of the firefighters “refusing” to put his fire out. The Lakeland Ledger is one of them and they have the story HERE.

Firegeezer adds: He’d be best advised to not try handing out his cards at the bars where the Polk County firefighters visit.

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Fl_wildland_FF

To pump out of a static source, you must use a hard suction line, which will not collapse when you are pulling a draft. Normally these hoses are not very long and most departments only carry 2 sections if they do carry them. To use a pool to draft water out of, they would have to park the engine right beside the pool, which has a fence around it. Very practical.

So we move on to the lake. What kind of bottom does the lake have? How much mud and soot does the water have in it? This will destroy the impellers in the pump. Lets use a $300,000 truck to attempt to pull water from a source that hasn't been tested to put this mans house out while we hope we don't ruin the truck.

Lets do some math while we are at it. A lot of tucks pump at 1,000 to 1,500 gallons per minute, while they usually only carry 500 to 1,000 gallons of water. If they was using only one attack line, this water isn't going to last long.

If this man is so worried about losing his precious antiques and such, why are his buildings so close that they can catch on fire from just simple heat transfer? Why did he not install a sprinkler system?

Was the fire started by the firefighters? No! So why sue the guys who showed up to help? Let's sue the problem, not the guys who at least came into try and help. My hats off to my brother firefighters, who were trying to help a guy who truly wanted a miracle for something that was out of control!!

Me

Fire departments can pump out of static water sources such as ponds and lakes and even pools. Why they didn't in this case, I don't know, but I wasn't there. There may have been circumstances that prevented them from doing so such as no hard suction hose, no access to the water source, lack of manpower, lack of training, lack of pre-plan, etc... The list could go on and on, but this guy seems like a little bit of a nut who is just trying to make a little noise to draw attention to himself or his businesses....IDK...

Sally waters

I thought that place was on a lake,then they couldnt pump water from the pool because of a fence around it[which is law]I live out from town on a lake,with a pool to,And I checked hydrents and found one over a mile away,but have a fire station 2 miles away.does this mean they would have to run a mile of fire hose,or do they have some kind of pump that could be put in a pool to pump water on a fire,or dont they make them yet,Im sure someone could figure out a way to do that seeing fire depts dont have that technology..Maybe a castle would'nt burn down.

Dal90

Where's Donna?

Patrick

This was like preemptive karma.

Richard

This guy is an idiot. He builds this shack no place near a single hydrant and gets pissed when the tanker runs dry. Duh! Such is life in a rural environment, if you don't like move closer to the utility grid. BTW..The "bars" this guy hands cards out in are most likely NOT frequented by firefighters, if you know what I mean.

Tri Townsend

What kinda of building code enforcement is there in this County. I can't believe they allowed a tinder box development like that built with out some kind of suppression system or closer hydrant. He could have himself installed a dry hydrant in the lake for the fire company to draft from. Funny that he wants to replace his home with a castle. Could this be a reason for the large antique lose and need to file suit against the department?