Read what happened to this case on remand here.

On December 6, 2012, the Supreme Court of Ohio handed down a disposition in Burlingame v. Estate of Burlingame.

The Burlington case, like the Anderson case, involved two individuals who were killed when their van was struck by a fire truck during an emergency run.  The same two immunity statutes are involved in both cases.  The plaintiffs asserted the fire truck driver acted willfully, wantonly, and recklessly in driving the truck.

The trial court granted summary judgment to the defendants, finding that the driver was “negligent at best” and was entitled to immunity as a matter of law. The Fifth District Court of Appeals reversed.

The Supreme Court sua sponte reversed the court of appeals decision in Burlingame on the authority of Anderson v. Massillon, (which you can read about here.) and remanded the case to the appeals court for further proceedings consistent with Anderson.  Justice Pfeifer dissented, and would affirm the decision of the court of appeals.