ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 13, 1996 TAG: 9606130046
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
The owners of a Roanoke rental home have agreed to pay $270,000 to settle a lawsuit that claimed their negligence made the house a fatal firetrap.
Under an agreement reached Wednesday, WTS Inc. and Jack Richards agreed to pay the amount to Patricia Leftwich, who sued for $1.35 million after her mother and four children died in a Jan.20 fire.
The wrongful-death lawsuit had claimed that the house at 1228 Stewart Ave. S.E. had building code violations that made it "unfit for human habitation." The suit's main assertion was that the house, which was owned and managed by WTS and Richards, lacked a fire wall that could have prevented the blaze from spreading to an upstairs room where the five victims died of smoke inhalation.
While the settlement was for significantly less than what Leftwich had sought, it does not end her legal options.
Brent Brown, a Roanoke lawyer who represents Leftwich, said the settlement allows Leftwich to file additional lawsuits against "others who may be alleged to have caused or contributed to this tragic loss of life."
Other potential targets could be the makers of an electric space heater and the extension cord that was determined to have started the fire, according to Tony Anderson, another lawyer who represents Leftwich.
Leftwich could not be reached for comment, but Brown said she is pleased with the settlement.
"No amount of money would be sufficient to compensate for the loss that this mother has endured," said Brown.
But Leftwich is gratified that community reaction to the fire has played a role in the city's proposal of a rental inspection program. Such a program, some say, might have detected the building code violations that are alleged in the lawsuit.
"Her main concern was that nobody else would have to go through what she went through," Brown said. "She's glad that some good has come out of this awful tragedy."
Phillip Anderson, a Roanoke lawyer who represented WTS, said the Salem company denied any wrongdoing.
"The claims against WTS focused on technical building code violations," he said. "These were conditions which were inherited by WTS when it purchased the structure at public auction in 1994. No structural changes have been made by WTS since its acquisition."
Although WTS asserts that it was not liable for the fire, Anderson said the firm's principals were "aware that litigation over the five deaths would likely be protracted and costly from an economic and emotional standpoint."
In a prepared statement, Brown said that Leftwich and her family appreciate "the spirit of cooperation of WTS and its representatives in the investigation of this matter."
The wrongful-death suit was filed by the estate of Leftwich's mother, Goldie Christine Duncan, and Leftwich's four children - Mark, 6; Clyde, 5; Patrick, 4; and Nancy, 3.
Fire officials have said the blaze was caused by an overheated extension cord that was plugged into an electric space heater in one of the downstairs rooms. The house had had been divided into three apartments, all rented by the Leftwich family.
Patricia Leftwich was in an upstairs room with her four children and mother the night of Jan. 20 when she smelled smoke and went downstairs to investigate.
Because of the way the house had been divided, she had to go down the stairs at the rear of the upstairs unit, through the west downstairs unit to the front porch. To enter the east downstairs unit, where the fire started, she had to go through another door on the front porch.
Such a configuration made it impossible for Duncan and the four children to escape once the fire - unchecked by the lack of a fire wall that should have separated the two downstairs units - rapidly spread through the house, the lawsuit contended.
The settlement must be approved by a Circuit Court judge to become official.
Since the Fire Department completed its investigation of the fire, Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell has been asked to review the case. Caldwell said this week that the investigation is continuing.
While arson has been excluded as a cause of the fire, Caldwell said he is still looking into the possibility of criminal charges based on the violation of building codes.
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