Insurance companies that paid $1.7 million to six homeowners in a fire blamed on a homeless Ashland, Ore. man have sued the owners of a vacant lot where the fire started.
The Ashland Daily Tidings reported the suit alleges the owners had been told vagrants were camping in the overgrown field behind a gasoline station, starting fires and smoking cigarettes.
A lawyer for the owners denies the allegations.
In all, 11 homes were destroyed in the fire in late August 2010. It has been called the worst fire in a century in the southern Oregon town.
A judge found that the man accused of reckless burning, 42-year-old John Thiry, likely set the fire, but prosecutors failed to prove he knew the consequences of his actions. Thiry remains homeless in Ashland.
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
Trucking Companies Confront Mounting Diesel, Insurance, Debt Costs 
Father and Son Charged With Running ‘Chop-Shop,’ Selling Stolen Cars, Insurance Fraud 
Binance’s $6.3 Billion Hack: How Crypto Insurance Works 
GM to Pay $220M to Settle Privacy Claims Over Sale of Driver Data to Insurers 
