Just as the Baltimore Fire Department failed Racheal M. Wilson in life, now it has failed her in death. A dispute between the city and the U.S. Justice Department over little more than paperwork could cause her two children to be denied the nearly $300,000 death benefit they are due.

For those who may already have forgotten about Ms. Wilson (as perhaps city officials have), she was the recruit who died in a training exercise performed in a burning rowhouse two years ago. Overcome by the heat and smoke, she couldn't climb out of a window to escape. A subsequent investigation revealed that adequate safety precautions had not been taken and that the cadet had not been prepared for such physical demands and perhaps shouldn't have been accepted as a firefighter recruit at all.

The incident led to the firing of the fire academy's director and two other officers in the training-safety division. Fire Chief William J. Goodwin Jr. also left the department not long after - saying a "fresh start" was necessary so that Ms. Wilson's death would not hover over the department.

Apparently, it has not hovered enough.