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NEWS
Lawsuits mount in deadly fire
HUNTINGTON -- The city's worst fire in more than 50 years has resulted in a massive lawsuit that pits the victims against the building's owner, manager and other defendants.
The Emmons Jr. apartment building fire started about 11 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 13, 2007. Nine people, including three Marshall University students, died in the blaze. Lawsuits have been filed on behalf of each of them.
The case is tentatively set for trial Aug. 4, 2008, but Circuit Judge David Pancake said those proceedings likely will be postponed. He called it a "young" case that is being vigorously prosecuted and defended. He estimated it may be another year before jury selection begins.
"No amount of money can replace the life of a person," Pancake said. "You're going to have such a number of plaintiffs with different perspectives and different alleged damages, and such a number of defendants with differing defenses and differing assets. It's kind of a sifting-down process. It just takes a long time when you have this many people involved."
In terms of parties involved, Pancake said this is the largest case of his career. It involves 13 plaintiffs and seven defendants and already has built up 22 volumes of documents and one appeal to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.
The plaintiffs' claims include criticizing inspections, along with arguing that the apartment building was unsafe and not kept to code.
The attorneys are based in Huntington, Beckley, Martinsburg and Charleston in West Virginia, along with Pittsburgh, Pa.; Cincinnati; and Columbus, Ohio. Pancake said the number of attorneys will make it difficult to schedule depositions and other matters in the case.
"The attorneys in this case are attorneys who are busy, have good practices and do excellent work," he said. "It doesn't mean that they have the third week of every month free to work on this case. So the very coordination of those matters is extremely difficult."
Besides the lawsuits filed on behalf of the nine victims, Marcia Lucas, mother of three who died in the fire, filed a separate suit on behalf of herself and her three children.
Other plaintiffs are Lin Yuan, Bei Wang and James N. Hale. Yuan and Hale were tenants, while Wang was visiting Yuan when the fire occurred, said attorney D. Arthur Rabourn. Each of them sustained some injuries, but each survived.
Woodlark Enterprises owned the Emmons Jr. and Sr. apartment buildings. The 3rd Avenue locations were managed by Alex Vence Jr. Both buildings were demolished, but the pending litigation delayed the demolition effort until October and November.
The defendants include Woodlark Enterprises III Inc., Woodlark Properties III LP, Woodlark Properties IV LP and Woodlark Properties IV LLC, along with Vence, Continental Casualty Co. and Building Evaluation Services and Technology Inc.
The state Supreme Court considered a pre-trial appeal in the case Thursday. Woodlark Properties III LP had challenged a discovery ruling that concerned disclosing the identity of the limited partners.
The high court refused Woodlark Properties III LP's request. The court voted 4-1. Justice Joseph P. Albright voted against the majority.
