Why another family is suing Carolina Forest apt. owners following large fire last spring
A family was forced to jump from a third-story balcony during the Windsor Green apartment fire because there were no other ways to escape, a lawsuit alleges.
Flames broke out at the Carolina Forest apartment building April 12, 2018, spreading across the second and third floors. Residents were forced to jump from balconies to escape the fire. Sixteen residents were displaced, and victims suffered broken bones, burns and cuts.
Though Horry County fire ruled the cause as undetermined, the lawsuit states, the blaze started and spread after a bird’s nest in a light fixture ignited, another lawsuit states. No smoke alarms sounded and the building did not have a fire alarm system, sprinkler system or a secondary means to escape, the suit states.
The owners should have known the nests were a fire hazard and failed to remove the birds or nests from the property, the lawsuit alleges. Negligence from the owners, the lawsuit states, resulted in the damages and permanent injuries suffered by the victims.
The Emminger family filed a lawsuit this week against the owners of Windsor Green, Benchmark/Cams, LLC and several possible unnamed defendants.
The suit is the second to be filed within the last week alleging negligence against the owners of Windsor Green following the apartment fire that displaced 16 people. A lawsuit filed Thursday by the Alewine family alleges the lack of smoke detectors and escape routes caused injuries to people living at Windsor Green when a large-scale fire ignited the complex.
This story was originally published January 7, 2019 at 12:11 PM.
