Ex-Charleston Firefighters Sue Store, Vendors

January 21, 2010  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Legal on January 22, 2010

Four former Charleston, S.C., firefighters have sued Sofa Super Store and several of its vendors for emotional and physical injuries sustained in the store fire that killed nine other firemen in 2007, the Post and Courier reported Friday.

Relatives of eight of nine firefighters killed in the blaze also have filed lawsuits.

The latest lawsuits name Sofa Super Store, the Goldstein Family Limited Partnership, Feltmann and Associates Inc., Miller Concrete, Conklin Company, Dupont Performance Elastomers LLC, Albany Industries Inc., Best Chairs Inc., Hughes Furniture Industries Inc., Motion-Eaze Recliners, Overnight Sofa Corp., Primo International, Pembrook Chair Corp. and Robinson & Robinson Furniture, doing business as Sofa Trend and Leather Trend.

The lawsuits claim illegal store additions violated building codes, and blame the store and its owner for allegedly installing highly flammable roofing and ceiling products and storing highly flammable furniture and other materials without "reasonable fire suppression systems," such as sprinklers.

The lawsuits also allege that the furniture makers named in the lawsuits didn't warn consumers about fire dangers associated with their products.