The city of Chattanooga has been sued for allegedly failing to extinguish a fire that eventually destroyed a home in East Brainerd.
The Circuit Court suit, that asks $3 million in damages, was also filed by Norma O’Neal against Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Company.
The lawsuit states that Nationwide is guilty of breach of contract and bad faith conduct "for failing to cover the loss of her home and then accusing her of setting the fire that destroyed it."
Hubert Hamilton who, along with Tom O’Neal, represents Mrs. O’Neal, stated, “The very idea that a 74-year-old woman, whose house was completely paid for, would set her own home on fire two weeks before Christmas, is ludicrous.”
He said Chattanooga is named "for failing to use all available means to extinguish the fire completely after it was reported the first time, leading to a rekindling of the fire and causing far more damage."
On Dec. 9 of last year at around 4 p.m., the Chattanooga Fire Department responded to 1706 Estrellita Circle, near Hamilton Place Mall, on the report of a house fire. A few minutes later, firefighters responded, attacked the fire and then reported that the fire was out, the suit says.
Shortly before 6:30 p.m., a Chattanooga fire investigator "arrived, inspected and then announced to local reporters who were present that the fire had been extinguished and had apparently started around a Christmas tree. Later that night, fire was discovered again and the city’s failure to extinguish it the first time led to even more damage," the suit says.
Mrs. O’Neal had lived in the home with her family for more than four decades.