Vroegh v. J & M Forklift

This case is another in a considerable number of cases involving the “fireman’s rule” in Illinois, but it is the first case which questions the rule’s effect on the right of contribution between tortfeasors.

On January 3, 1989, Douglas Maicach, a member of the South Holland fire department, was killed while he was fighting a fire involving a propane gas-powered forklift truck owned by the defendant, ANR Freight System, Inc. (ANR), at a freight terminal maintained by ANR. Adrian Vroegh, the administrator of the estate of Douglas Maicach, filed a multi-count wrongful death complaint against the…