Judge again throws out lawsuit over 2022 fire that killed 3 Baltimore firefighters

A federal judge for a second time has thrown out a lawsuit against the city brought by the families of three Baltimore firefighters who died while battling a fire in a vacant rowhouse in 2022.

Lt. Kelsey Sadler, Lt. Paul Butrim and EMT/firefighter Kenny Lacayo were killed on Jan. 24, 2022, after the home on South Stricker Street near West Pratt Street in Mount Clare partially collapsed. EMT/firefighter John McMaster was seriously hurt, and he’s also part of the case.

The lawsuit was filed in 2025 in Baltimore Circuit Court and alleged that the city had ended a program meant to flag buildings that were unsafe, kept that information from rank-and-file firefighters and sent them into a death trap. The case was later moved to U.S. District Court in Baltimore.

In a 30-page opinion on Feb. 20, U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Maddox wrote that while the allegations are “tragic and alarming,” they aren’t enough to support the families’ claims.

Maddox in 2024 threw out the lawsuit.

His recent ruling does not bar the attorneys representing the families from refiling the case.

Ken Berman, one of the attorneys for the families, said it is “beyond high time” that the city stops engaging in what he called “legal maneuverings and hiding behind technicalities” and does the right thing.

“We said we are not giving up and we will take it as far as we need to and we meant it,” Berman said in an email.

In an email, Jonas Poggi, a spokesperson for Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, said the city did not have any further comment on the decision.

Beginning in 2010, Baltimore told its firefighters that the city had created and maintained a program called Code X-Ray that marked and tracked properties that were structurally unsafe and condemned. But the lawsuit alleged that was a “bald-faced lie.”

When firefighters arrived at the home on South Stricker Street, there were no markings or placards that indicated it was unsafe, the lawsuit asserted.

The city, the lawsuit contended, also did not incorporate information in the computer dispatch system that there had been at least two prior issues at the property. Those include a fire in 2015 that caused a partial collapse and hurt three firefighters.

Not long after the firefighters entered the home, the inside of the building collapsed and pancaked.

Baltimore Chief Solicitor Hanna Sheehan described the fire in court documents as a tragic workplace accident, arguing that the lawsuit could not plausibly allege that the city intended for its firefighters to die or fraudulently induced them into the circumstances that led to their injuries.

Fire Chief Niles Ford resigned in 2022 upon the release of a more than 300-page report that criticized the department for a failure to follow recommendations after close calls and other deaths in the line of duty.

The Baltimore Police Department and Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office in 2025 moved to arrest and charge the man whom they allege started the deadly fire.

James Barnett is charged with three counts of second-degree murder and related offenses.

Barnett, 58, of West Baltimore, is scheduled to appear back in court on April 3. He’s being held in the Metropolitan Transition Center without bail.

This article has been updated.