Wrongful-death suit filed after 2025 fire engine crash killed a Columbia woman
The sister of a woman who was killed last year when a Columbia-Richland Fire Department engine responding to a call struck her vehicle, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit accusing the city of Columbia, Richland County, the fire department and the engine’s driver of negligence and recklessness.
Carolyn Virginia Collins, 64, was killed July 12, 2025, after a fire truck driving north in a southbound lane struck her vehicle as she was attempting to make a left-hand turn from a Two Notch Road median.
Collins’ sister, Diana Sparrow, filed the lawsuit June 1 in Richland County Circuit court. She is being represented by attorney Shaquana Cuttino.
What happened?
A lightning strike on the evening of July 12, 2025, engulfed one home in flames and damaged two others in a neighborhood on Bradford Ridge Lane in northeast Columbia.
Several fire engines were dispatched to the scene, including an engine driven by Bryan Richardson, according to Sparrow’s lawsuit. On the way to the call, Richardson drove against traffic, driving north in a southbound lane, the lawsuit and a South Carolina Highway Patrol report both show.
At around 6:49 p.m., the fire engine hit Collins’ vehicle, and she died at the scene. Richardson had been driving more than 65 miles per hour in a 45 mile-per-hour zone, the lawsuit alleges.
Sparrow alleges negligence and recklessness from all parties. The fire department, city, county and Richardson “owed a duty of care,” to Collins “and the public at large to ensure emergency vehicles operate in a way that does not endanger innocent motorists,” the lawsuit states.
The City of Columbia and Richland County jointly manage the fire department.
The governmental entities were negligent in their training of Richardson and in their supervision of his driving, the lawsuit states. Richardson was negligent in numerous ways, the lawsuit alleges, including in driving against the flow of traffic and driving with excessive speed.
Richardson was later ticketed for driving a vehicle at a greater speed than is reasonable “under conditions,” according to court records.
The lawsuit further alleges that Richardson failed to use the fire engine’s emergency lights and sirens. Media reports and a Highway Patrol release following the collision reported that the fire engine’s lights and sirens had been activated. The State newspaper has requested the South Carolina Highway Patrol investigation report regarding the collision.
Sparrow, who is the representative for Collins’ estate, is demanding a jury trial, and is asking a court to award damages to cover medical costs, burial expenses and other economic damages, as well as an award of damages for pain and suffering, as well as attorney’s fees and other costs associated with the wrongful death lawsuit.
Parties named in the lawsuit have 30 days from being served to respond to the claims.
The State has contacted Sparrow’s attorney, as well as the Columbia-Richland Fire Department for additional information.
