The families of two Georgia residents who died in an October 2023 house fire have filed suit against Richmond County and others, alleging wrongful death and negligence stemming from the failure of firefighters at a nearby station to respond.

The suit was filed in the Superior Court of Richmond County on October 20, 2025, by the surviving heirs of Teresa Ingram and Rextal Williams, who perished in a fire at their home at 3443 Old Louisville Road. The home is located directly across the street from what the complaint names as the “Richmond County Fire Department” Station 16.

Quoting from the complaint:

• On October 14, 2023, at approximately 6:24 a.m., a fire erupted in the home shared by Teresa Ingram and Rextal Williams at 3443 Old Louisville Road, directly across from Richmond County Fire Station 16.
• Both residents awoke to the fire and attempted to escape. They were overcome by smoke and subsequently died of asphyxiation.
• Prior to the incident, Mr. Williams had established an evacuation plan with personnel at Fire Station 16 due to his limited mobility. Station 16 employees explicitly assured him that in the event of a fire, they would respond immediately to extract him through a designated route. Ms. Ingram relied upon this plan from Station 16.
• Despite these assurances and the station’s proximity, Fire Station 16 failed to respond at all to the fire, even as it occurred within direct visual range of their facility.
• When later questioned, Fire Station 16 employees admitted they “were asleep” and took no action to assist or respond to the fire.
• These failures constitute gross negligence, willful and wanton misconduct, and a violation of established ministerial duties under Richmond County emergency operations protocols.

Several things stated in the complaint need to be clarified. First, there is no “Richmond County Fire Department” as named in the complaint. Fire protection in Richmond County is provided by the Augusta Fire Department. The Augusta Fire Department operates under the government of the consolidated Augusta–Richmond County— i.e., the city and county merged their governments in 1996. The official legal name of the consolidated city-county government is Augusta-Richmond County. The department is sometimes referred to as the Augusta-Richmond County Fire Department.

Second, the amended complaint names Richmond County, Fire Station 16, Chief Antonio Burden, the State of Georgia, and unidentified John Doe fire department employees as defendants. Chief Burden is the fire chief of the Augusta Fire Department, and Fire Station 16 has no independent legal existence outside of the city of Augusta-Richmond County. It is not clear how the state of Georgia is liable.

Third, local news reports following the incident indicated that a malfunction with the station’s alerting system led to the delayed response of Augusta Station 16. It was not neglect or wilful misconduct by the firefighters at Station 16. According to coverage by WRDW/WAGT, the firefighters at Station 16 reported they did not receive the call due to the system failure. Apparatus from other stations responded, resulting in a delayed arrival.

Claims against the defendants include negligence, gross negligence, wrongful death, and failure to hire, train, and supervise competent personnel. Plaintiffs are seeking no less than $10 million per deceased resident. The complaint also cites Georgia’s ministerial duty standards, alleging that the failure to act was a violation of established emergency operation protocols. Anticipating sovereign immunity defenses, it asserts that specific promises made to the residents created an individualized duty to act.

An ante litem notice was filed in October 2024 demanding $30 million in damages. Here is a copy of the amended complaint.