View this article online: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/midwest/2017/09/20/464924.htm
The owner of an Ohio home where a fire killed two adults and two girls is settling a lawsuit claiming she’s liable because the rental property lacked smoke detectors.
Cleveland.com reports owner Joni Laidig and her insurer agreed to pay $360,000 to settle the suit over the December fire in Akron. That’s the sum of $72,000 payments to the estates of the four who died and to one survivor.
The site says Laidig’s attorney didn’t return a call about the settlement.
Officials determined that unattended food on a gas stove caused the fire. It killed 36-year-old Omar Riley; 33-year-old Shirley Wallis; and two sisters, 9-year-old Aniyla Riley and 8-year-old Shanice Riley.
Their estates claim the stove was defective in a separate, pending lawsuit against General Electric, which denies those allegations.