THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 12, 1997 TAG: 9702120544
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: PETERSBURG LENGTH: 39 lines
Attorneys for a city hospital where five people were killed in a 1994 New Year's Eve fire want the estate of a patient who is suspected of causing the blaze to pay $10 million in damages.
The lawyers for Southside Regional Medical Center also want the estate of the patient, Dora E. Matthews, to pay for any jury awards against the hospital resulting from 11 fire-related lawsuits.
Matthews, a former nurse at the hospital, was among the five people who died. She was being treated for alcohol detoxification and other ailments and was restrained in her bed when the fire broke out.
Officials believe Matthews was smoking. Charred remains of matches and cigarettes were found near her bed.
The hospital's motions against Matthews' estate were filed last week in circuit courts in Richmond and Petersburg. The motions contend that Matthews acted ``carelessly, recklessly and negligently or intentionally in setting herself and her bed on fire.''
Whether Matthews' estate has sufficient funds to pay damages isn't known. James T. Edmunds, a Richmond attorney representing the administrator of her estate, declined to comment on the hospital's request.
The estate administrator, Janice M. Fultz, is one of the 11 plaintiffs who have sued the hospital and other defendants as a result of the fire.
Fultz is seeking $5 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, based on claims of building code violations, equipment failure and faulty building conditions in the area where the fire occurred.
The hospital has asked that the suits be dismissed on grounds of sovereign immunity, a state law that shields localities and their holdings from liability in negligent acts.
KEYWORDS: LAWSUIT FIRE SOUTHSIDE REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER
HOSPITAL