Former Rock Falls Fire Chief Cris Bouwens testified Thursday, Nov. 6, that several of his actions were contributing factors that led to the death of Sterling Fire Lt. Garrett Ramos.

At 11:08 p.m., Dec. 3, 2021, Bouwens arrived at the burning home at 10031 Ridge Road in Rock Falls. He was the first one there, making him the incident commander that oversaw the entire scene, which ended up including 10 fire departments and 39 firefighters.

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While being questioned by attorney Michael Gallagher, retired Rock Falls Fire Chief Cris Bouwens takes the stand Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025, in the Ramos wrongful death case. (Alex T. Paschal)

Ramos was part of a Sterling Fire Department crew dispatched to assist the Rock Falls Fire Department and arrived at the scene at 11:21 p.m. Two hours later, firefighters removed his body from the basement. He died by asphyxiation after he fell through the burning floor and his tanks ran out of air.

Bouwens described what he did and didn’t do the night of the fire during testimony that lasted four hours in a Whiteside County courtroom Thursday, Nov. 6, the third day a 12-member jury heard testimony in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Ramos’ widow.

Brittney C. Ramos is suing the city of Rock Falls; Bouwens; and former Deputy Fire Chief Ken Wolf, who is now Rock Falls’ fire chief, claiming that willful and wanton disregard on their part caused her husband’s death.

If Brittney’s legal team can prove that Bouwens and Wolf showed conscious disregard for Ramos’ safety through the decisions they made, the jury could award damages. Those damages, for pain and suffering to her and the couple’s two children, could reach into the tens of millions of dollars, according to attorneys.

The city, Bouwens and Wolf have countered that Ramos was partially responsible for missteps that contributed to his own death.

Lead Ramos attorney Michael Gallagher called Bouwens to the stand Thursday and focused on proving that he violated the Rock Falls Fire and National Fire Protection Administration protocol when two mayday calls came across the radio from an unknown firefighter.

Gallagher played the jury videos of the scene where two mayday calls can be heard just after midnight.

“I did not hear any of the mayday calls,” Bouwens said, explaining that the mayday did not come over the channel used by the firefighters.

Gallagher then showed the jury a section of Bouwens’ incident report written sometime during the week after the fire. It referenced the mayday calls, saying “there was a radio call for a mayday.”

Eventually, Bouwens said, “I did overhear other firefighters talking about a mayday.”

Bouwens said he did know there was a partial floor collapse.

Four minutes after the mayday call is heard on the video, Sterling Fire Chief Mike Dettman is heard saying “all units give me PAR.”

PAR is a personnel accountability report that immediately accounts for all firefighters.

“Anyone can call PAR,” Bouwens said.

Gallagher said that according to the NFPA and Rock Falls Fire guidelines, it’s the responsibility of the incident commander – in this case Bouwens – or the accountability officer in charge of keeping track of firefighters’ whereabouts – in this case Wolf – to immediately call PAR after a mayday or a significant event like a floor collapse.

“You violated your own policy by failing to call a PAR,” Gallagher said.

“Correct,” Bouwens said.

Bouwens also testified that he didn’t ask for another PAR or ask it to be corrected as the one that was called was incomplete. Crews weren’t asked to reply with the name of their department, truck number, and number of firefighters in that group and whether they were accounted for.

Bouwens said that, along with his actions earlier at the scene, were “contributing factors” in Ramos’ death.

One was the first thing he did when he arrived at the scene, spoke with the residents of the house and did not ask if there was a basement. Bouwens said that firefighters are always taught to assume there is a basement until proven otherwise.

That question, Gallagher said, is very important because the presence of a basement greatly increases the risks when fighting a fire. Bouwens agreed.

“All you had to do was ask,” Gallagher said.

Another contributing factor Bouwens agreed to was that he did not speak to any of the firefighters inside the house during the duration of the fire. Another was that he didn’t appoint a safety officer until after the mayday was called.

It would take firefighters over half an hour after the mayday call to learn through Ramos’ firefighting partner that he was missing.

Aaron Brown, a captain with the Dixon City Fire Department, testified Wednesday that he and his crew dropped a ladder into the basement to find Ramos. Brown found Ramos in an adjacent room in the basement, unconscious and not breathing

Brown, after yelling to have firefighters turn down the water being pumped into the building so he could hear, said the sound of an alarm could be heard. The alarm turned out to be coming from Ramos’ body and was sounding because his tanks were out of air.

Brown said his crew pulled Ramos’ body to the pool table and up to the ladder; after two attempts to get him up the ladder, webbing and a carabiner were used to lift his body out of the basement.

Testimony will continue at 9 a.m. Friday, Nov. 7.