COLUMBIA, S.C. — The city of Columbia warned in open court that it could stop helping fight fires in Irmo, according to a new filing in the wrongful death case of Irmo firefighter James Muller. The city denies it made any threat.
The filing, made Oct. 16 by attorneys for his widow, Emma Muller, says the remark came at a Dec. 10, 2025, hearing where Columbia was trying to add the Irmo Fire District to the case as a third-party defendant. That move would make the district responsible for any damages Columbia might owe.
According to the filing, the city also argued that losing that help would push Irmo residents toward higher insurance rates and property taxes. The Irmo Fire District’s own lawyers have acknowledged in court that Columbia said both things, the filing adds. A city spokesperson called any claim that Columbia threatened Irmo categorically false.
Columbia and Irmo signed their mutual aid agreement in 2012. It sends the closest suitable units to a fire no matter whose jurisdiction it is in, so Irmo crews sometimes reach a scene before Columbia crews, and the other way around.
Muller, 25, died after a May 2023 fire at the Tropical Ridge Apartments, where Irmo firefighters had come in on a mutual aid call to help the Columbia-Richland Fire Department. The lawsuit says the use of deck guns on the roof brought it down on him and that his mayday call was mishandled, leaving him trapped for about 45 minutes.
Attorneys for Emma Muller have accused the city of stalling. Last week they renewed their push to question 26 city employees and officials, including Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins, after the city sought to move depositions to January 2027.
Section: More Irmo SC crime news
Filed under: Irmo SC Public Safety News
