The High Court found Galway County Council liable after a part-time fireman was injured crossing a bog at night, ruling that the lighting provided on the return route was inadequate. The court attributed 20% of the blame to the plaintiff and entered judgment for €94,589.60.
The judgment by Mr Justice Michael Peart concerns a fire response near Glenamaddy, Co Galway, on 23 April 2000. The plaintiff, then aged 49, fell into a ditch while returning with three colleagues after they extinguished a bog fire. The team was led by a senior officer carrying the only large lamp. Each firefighter also had a small personal torch, which the court said was designed to illuminate equipment, not a path across a bog.
The plaintiff said he could not see the ditch clearly and that the lack of light caused him to misjudge a jump. The judge accepted that the fall caused an injury, while finding that the ditch was probably narrower and the water shallower than the plaintiff recalled. The court also found that the darkness deprived him of a proper opportunity to see that the bank was unstable.
The council disputed that inadequate lighting caused the fall and argued that the plaintiff failed to take proper care for his own safety. The judge rejected several other allegations, including that the four-person crew, lack of bog-specific training or the boots provided caused the injury. He found, however, that having one lamp for four people did not provide adequate light for the route, particularly with the plaintiff at the back of the line.
The court found contributory negligence because the experienced firefighter attempted to jump the ditch without asking for help or more light, despite feeling tired and unwell on the bog. It assigned him 20% responsibility.
The judge assessed general damages at €55,000 for pain and discomfort from the accident to the date of judgment. He did not award future pain damages, finding that the plaintiff’s pre-existing degenerative changes would probably have become symptomatic within a relatively short time regardless. He also rejected the claim that the accident probably caused his later Type 2 diabetes.
Special damages were assessed at €63,237. The court excluded a claimed loss relating to teaching work because other paid work offset it, and calculated fire-service earnings losses on the basis that the plaintiff would otherwise have retired at 55. The combined damages of €118,237 were reduced by 20%, resulting in judgment for €94,589.60.