Fire Law Blog Fire Service and Public Safety Legal Issues Blog by Curt Varone
An effort to sell the former Southwest Inn has resulted in a lawsuit by the prospective buyer, as well as claims by a local activist that the transaction is an attempt to hide assets from the families of the four firefighters who died there.
Four Houston firefighters, Captain Matthew Renaud, 35, FF Robert Bebee, 41, FF Robert Garner, 29, and probationary FF Anne Sullivan, 24, were killed and fourteen were injured in the May 31, 2013 fire. By my count at least four separate lawsuits have been filed by firefighters or their families over the fire, three against the property owners and one against Motorola.
The owners were reportedly set to sell the property for $3 million when the deal fell through at the last minute prompting the prospective buyer to sue. That suit prompted claims by activist Quanell X that the owners were seeking to “to deceive the families of our first responders who died in the line of duty. This one is an attempt to rob them of compensation by doing a side-door deal.”
