According to the Jere Beasley Report, families of eight firefighters who were batttling a South Carolina furniture store fire almost three years alo have settled with another group of lawsuit Defendants for more than $1.2 million. The fire at the Sofa Super Store in 2007 killed nine firefighters. This was the greatest single loss of firefighters in the nation since the 2001 terror attack on the World Trade Center.

The families of eight of the firefighters sued for wrongful death, naming 30 Defendents including the furniture store as well as various furniture manufacturers and equiptment manufactureres. Settlements were reached in February with eight Defendents for just over $1.2 million. In late 2008, 12 other defendents settled for a total of $5.6 million.

A 2008 report from a panel of experts brought in by the city after the fire concluded inadequate training, outdated tactics, and aging equipment led to the firefighters’ deaths. The report found firefighters did not follow standard safety practices and had obsolete equipment. But it also found the blaze would have been confined to a loading dock where it started had sprinklers been installed in the store, which once was a grocery store.

If you have lost a loved one to tragic circumstances, contact our Toledo, Ohio wrongful death lawyers at 800.637.8170 for your free copy of The Ohio Wrongful Death Book.