Frederick County Sued for $50 Million in Death of Fire Recruit

The family of Ian Strickler, a Frederick County, Virginia firefighter recruit who died during a physical training session in July 2023, has filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against Frederick County, Fire Chief Steven Majchrzak, and lead recruit instructor Kyle Ritter. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, alleges violations of Strickler’s constitutional rights under 42 USC § 1983, including a deprivation of his Fourteenth Amendment right to life.

According to the 47-page complaint, the suit stems from a long-standing culture of abusive training practices in the Frederick County Fire and Rescue Department’s recruit school. The complaint alleges that Chief Majchrzak and other senior officials knowingly permitted unqualified personnel to conduct intense physical training under unsafe conditions—despite prior warnings, a documented near-death incident, and internal complaints about excessive injuries during training.

Strickler, 35, died on July 5, 2023—his second day on the job and first day of physical training—after participating in a high-intensity, outdoor exercise session referred to internally as a “hell day.” The training occurred in dangerous heat index conditions exceeding 110°F, allegedly in direct violation of state and NFPA guidelines that prohibit strenuous outdoor activity at such temperatures. Strickler’s heart rate, monitored by a Polar H10 sensor, remained dangerously elevated for over 30 minutes, but according to the complaint, both Ritter and FCFR failed to intervene.

The lawsuit contends that FCFR had a documented history of injuries and hazing-like conduct under Ritter’s leadership, including an incident in 2022 where a recruit named Nick Blake suffered a cardiac emergency under similar circumstances. We covered a lawsuit filed last year by Blake’s mother, who worked for the department. She claims she was retaliated against for complaining about the abusive treatment. More on that suit here.

The factual allegations from the Strickler lawsuit are quoted here at length:

• July 5, 2023, marked Mr. Strickler’s second day on the job and his first day of physical training.
• That morning, at 0600 HRS, Recruit Class 14 reported to “the annex,” the building where recruits conduct most of their indoor physical training, to begin their day of training.
• Kyle Ritter instructed the recruits to load water coolers and sandbags onto the bus for transportation to the FCFR’s Public Safety Building for “team building exercises,” a euphemism that Ritter used to refer to hazing recruits.
• From this point forward, the training was conducted in a “paramilitary” fashion, wherein Kyle Ritter and his fellow instructors began yelling and berating the recruits when giving instructions or issuing commands.
• At this point, the recruits were commanded to load their equipment onto the bus alongside the water coolers and sandbags.
• Shortly thereafter, Kyle Ritter approached the recruits and asked them how many sandbags had been loaded. Upon receiving no answer from the recruits, Mr. Ritter instructed them to unload the sandbags, count them, and reload them onto the bus. Mr. Ritter repeated this process approximately three or four times.
• At approximately 0830 HRS, the recruits were transported to the FCFR Public Safety Building. Upon arriving, Kyle Ritter entered the bus and instructed the recruits to put on their Polar H10s. This automatically connected each recruit’s heart rate readings to Ms. Toler’s iPad, who was present at the Public Safety Building to keep an eye on each recruit’s readings
• At approximately 0834 HRS, Mr. Strickler placed the Polar H10 around his sternum. His heart rate was measured at or slightly above 184 beats per minute. This is already concerning because… Ian’s maximum heart rate should not exceed 185 bpm. This number is determined by subtracting Ian’s age from 220, which results in a heart rate of 185 bpm.
• As a certified physical trainer, Ms. Toler would have been aware of the potential health problems these readings could pose for Ian.
• Nonetheless, Ms. Toler decided to hold off informing either Ian Strickler or Kyle Ritter of his heart rate readings.
• At 0834 HRS, the temperature read 73ºF, but since the field surrounding the Public Safety Building was directly underneath the sun, it “felt” more like 88ºF. Coupled with 84% humidity, the heat index was approximately 110ºF.
• Right then, the heat index was at a temperature categorized as “dangerous” by the NWS.
• By stepping outside, every recruit was at risk of developing heat disorders, such as sunstroke, muscle cramps, and/or heat exhaustion.
• Kyle Ritter knew this and should have known that the heat index had already reached temperatures deemed unsafe for outside physical activity by VDFP, but he chose to ignore it and continue with his “hell day.”
• Instead of making the call to transfer PT to the annex and have the recruits suffer Kyle Ritter’s “hell day” indoors, he chose to risk their lives and push their bodies to their limits in the July heat.
• Upon disembarking the bus, the recruits began doing stretches and warm-ups, conducting lunges with sandbags around their shoulders and lunging approximately 90 feet away. The class followed this exercise with toe touches, repetitive pushups, squats without a sandbag, squats with a sandbag, sandbag lifts, and a water bottle exercise where the recruits’ water bottles were deliberately scattered across a long-stretch of the field and they had to work together to locate them before being granted permission to take a water break.
• These exercises were led by Adam Sisler, whose superior physical fitness capabilities in comparison to the rest of the recruits provided Kyle Ritter ample reason to berate and scream at the recruits.
• At various stages of these exercises, Kyle Ritter repeatedly screamed at the recruits, calling them demeaning and derogatory names and threatening them that if they failed to keep up, they would be dismissed from recruit school.
• Steven Anderson exacerbated Kyle Ritter’s hazing by shouting at them through a bullhorn while barely standing a few feet away from the recruits.
• Ian Strickler feared the consequences of giving up and was eager to prove himself to FCFR instructors.
• Surveillance cameras around the Public Safety Building captured the recruits beginning their water break at 0900 HRS During the 0900 HRS water break, Ms. Toler can be seen on video talking to Ian about his elevated heart rate, which had not fallen below 195 BPM, according to the Polar H10 sensors, exceeding the Red Zone workouts.
• Ms. Toler did not inform Ian of the danger associated with his heart rate readings, but asked him if he was feeling lightheaded, nauseous, or in pain. Ian indicated that he was not experiencing any of those symptoms at that time.
• Ms. Toler can then be seen leaving after speaking with Ian and walking towards a group of instructors. Ms. Toler approached Kyle Ritter and presented him with Mr. Strickler’s heart rate readings. Ms. Toler told Kyle Ritter that Ian’s heart rate was exceeding normal heart rate readings, and that his heart was beating in excess of 100% percent of an individual’s maximum heart rate. Ms. Toler pointed to Ian’s heart rate beating within the Red Zone of the Polar H10 monitoring sensors.
• Despite having overseen at least two previous cardiac events involving PT, Kyle Ritter dismissed Ms. Toler’s concerns and proceeded to line up the recruits for the second stage of their workouts, which began with bear crawls.
• Video surveillance captured the moment the recruits started the bear crawl exercise. Within two feet of beginning his bear crawls, Ian Strickler can be seen dropping onto his hands and knees. At this point, Kyle Ritter approached Ian, squatted near his face, and began yelling at Ian to “get off your knees” repeatedly and in a demeaning tone. Kyle Ritter forced Ian to complete the lap.
• Upon completing one lap of bear crawls, Ian fell to his knees again and continued crawling in this manner until Kyle Ritter approached him and yelled at him to get off his knees.
• Again, Mr. Ritter forced Ian to finish the exercise despite knowing that his heart rate was well into dangerous levels.
• Once the recruits completed their bear crawls, they began a stretching exercise in which they were instructed to assume a push-up position with their buttocks pushed towards the sky.
• Upon completing their stretch, Kyle Ritter instructed the recruits to get on their feet, but when the class failed to complete this in unison, he ordered them to repeat the process several times.
• During this second portion of the recruits’ morning PTs, Ms. Toler approached Kyle Ritter several more times, indicating to Ritter that Ian Strickler’s heart rate was not dropping but maintaining the same dangerously high levels he was displaying earlier that morning.
• Again, Kyle Ritter disregarded these signs and continued pushing Ian beyond his limits, while shouting at him and berating him to continue moving forward.
• By this time, the air temperature was slowly rising, increasing the heat index from 110°F to 116°F.
• Shortly after beginning their run, Ian Strickler began to falter and fall behind the rest of the recruit class.
• Despite being repeatedly told by Ms. Toler that Ian Strickler was suffering from an abnormally high heart rate, Kyle Ritter forced Ian to the front of the class to lead the pace of the run.
• Ian Strickler’s average heart rate was 199 bpm during this time (108% of his max safe bpm) with a high a 208 bpm (113% of his max safe bpm).
• At approximately 0912 HRS, Ian collapsed onto the ground during this run.
• Upon falling, Kyle Ritter yelled to the other recruits to continue with their run, while he and two other instructors tended to Ian. Shortly before collapsing, Ian complained of knee pain, which Kyle Ritter dismissed.
• Upon collapsing, Kyle Ritter asked Ian if he was experiencing shortness of breath, dizziness, or feelings of passing out, to which Ian responded that he was not experiencing any of those symptoms.
• Ian was then relocated to the west side of the Public Safety Building, where he once again came into view of the video surveillance camera.
• By this time, the heat index had risen to 116º-124ºF.
• Once relocated, Ian was then given a drink and seated on a curb.
• Shortly thereafter, Kyle Ritter noticed that Ian was slumped over and breathing in a snore-like manner. This type of respiration is known as Agonal breathing, and it is indicative of someone approaching death.
• Kyle Ritter got behind Ian and began giving him sternum rubs, while two other instructors helped tilt Mr. Strickler’s head back to open an airway. While Ian’s head was tilted back, his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Shortly thereafter, Ian became unresponsive. Lifesaving measures were initiated.
• At around 0922 HRS, Frederick County dispatch was notified of an urgent request for medical emergency services at the Public Safety Building.
• An ambulance team was dispatched from the FCFR’s Milwood Station, which is located 0.8 miles away from the Public Safety Building.

According to the complaint, even after Strickler collapsed during training, proper emergency response was delayed, and vital information—such as his 104°F body temperature—was omitted from the prehospital care report provided to the medical examiner. As a result, the official cause of death was initially misattributed to hypertensive cardiovascular disease rather than exertional heatstroke, a finding the family claims was driven by the deliberate withholding of evidence.

The complaint further alleges that the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health (VOSH) investigation was initially hindered by FCFR’s lack of transparency. It was only after an anonymous letter (later attributed to a department administrative assistant) revealed the extent of prior injuries and misconduct that the investigation was reopened. VOSH ultimately issued a citation against Frederick County in December 2023 for willfully failing to protect its employees from recognized hazards.

In a private meeting with Strickler’s family, Kyle Ritter allegedly admitted he was not qualified to conduct physical training and had never read the operating instructions for the heart rate monitoring equipment.

The lawsuit seeks $50 million in compensatory damages and punitive damages against the individual defendants.