Judge declines to dismiss lawsuits against companies sued over Sun Prairie gas explosion
A Dane County judge denied motions Monday to dismiss lawsuits brought by Sun Prairie firefighters and their families over a massive gas explosion last summer, concluding that she didn’t have enough information to find that the suits were barred by a legal doctrine that applies to first responders such as firefighters.
The companies — Verizon contractor Bear Communications, subcontractor VC Tech, USIC Locating Services and WE Energies subsidiary Wisconsin Gas, which owns the gas line — all said that the lawsuits are barred by a doctrine in state law called the “Firefighter’s Rule,” which bars emergency responders from suing those whose negligence brought the firefighter to the scene of an incident.
Abigail Barr, widow of Sun Prairie Fire Capt. Cory Barr, who was killed in the blast, and firefighters Ryan Welch and Greg Pavlik, who were injured, filed lawsuits on Dec. 20, the same day Sun Prairie police announced no criminal charges would be pursued for the July 10 explosion that destroyed several buildings in downtown Sun Prairie. The lawsuits were recently consolidated into one case.
Police said a broken chain of communication between utility contractors and subcontractors led to a gas line being improperly marked before it was struck by a worker for VC Tech. It was never determined what caused the resulting gas leak to ignite.
Read more: https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/crime-and-courts/judge-declines-to-dismiss-lawsuits-against-companies-sued-over-sun/article_addc25a5-e0c4-5d9c-8fdf-8e0df5dec80a.html
This photo from July 11 shows the aftermath of a gas explosion in downtown Sun Prairie.
JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL ARCHIVES