October 29, 2009
Settlement reached in Planter's Fire Lawsuit
The owner of the burned-out Planter's hotel in Brawley has obtained an out-of-court settlement in his multi-million dollar lawsuit against a major insurance carrier.
Neither side is allowed to comment on the specifics of the deal, including the dollar amount of the settlement.
Attorneys for P. Allen Earley and the Allen Earley 1998 Family Trust say he has settled his claim against Chubb Custom Insurance Company.
According to Earley's attorney Peter Ward, of the firm San Diego county law firm Ward and Hagen, the terms of the settlement are confidential, neither side admits any liability, and neither side is allowed to comment on the specifics of the deal, including the dollar amount of the settlement.
The fire, which occurred in the early morning hours of March 7, 2007, gutted the historic hotel. The hotel was determined to be a total loss, and was demolished.
Earley had asked for $3.1 million, plus other costs associated with the suit.
Chubb Custom Insurance had contended that the sprinkler system in the building was not working at the time of the fire, and that violated the terms of Earley's insurance policy. In court documents, Earley says he didn't know about the status of the sprinkler system until after the fire occurred.
According to documents contained in the federal lawsuit, including a summary of the investigation into the the cause of the Planters' Fire by the Brawley Fire Department, investigators later determined that arson was the cause of the blaze. Not only was another fire set at a restaurant called Mamma Maggies just minutes before the Planter's building started to burn, but investigators, using a specially trained dog called an Accelerant Detection Dog, also determined that an accelerant (such as gasoline) was used to start a fire in at least one location of the Planters Hotel.
The court documents also state that that the hotel's sprinkler system had been shut off before the fire, and that the Brawley Fire Department knew about the status of the hotel's sprinkler system the day before fire. Court documents in the federal lawsuit indicate two Brawley firefighters had conducted an inspection of the hotel the day before the fire, and discovered that that the sprinkler system was shut off.
To date, no criminal charges have been filed in the case.
Neither side is allowed to comment on the specifics of the deal, including the dollar amount of the settlement.
Attorneys for P. Allen Earley and the Allen Earley 1998 Family Trust say he has settled his claim against Chubb Custom Insurance Company.
According to Earley's attorney Peter Ward, of the firm San Diego county law firm Ward and Hagen, the terms of the settlement are confidential, neither side admits any liability, and neither side is allowed to comment on the specifics of the deal, including the dollar amount of the settlement.
The fire, which occurred in the early morning hours of March 7, 2007, gutted the historic hotel. The hotel was determined to be a total loss, and was demolished.
Earley had asked for $3.1 million, plus other costs associated with the suit.
Chubb Custom Insurance had contended that the sprinkler system in the building was not working at the time of the fire, and that violated the terms of Earley's insurance policy. In court documents, Earley says he didn't know about the status of the sprinkler system until after the fire occurred.
According to documents contained in the federal lawsuit, including a summary of the investigation into the the cause of the Planters' Fire by the Brawley Fire Department, investigators later determined that arson was the cause of the blaze. Not only was another fire set at a restaurant called Mamma Maggies just minutes before the Planter's building started to burn, but investigators, using a specially trained dog called an Accelerant Detection Dog, also determined that an accelerant (such as gasoline) was used to start a fire in at least one location of the Planters Hotel.
The court documents also state that that the hotel's sprinkler system had been shut off before the fire, and that the Brawley Fire Department knew about the status of the hotel's sprinkler system the day before fire. Court documents in the federal lawsuit indicate two Brawley firefighters had conducted an inspection of the hotel the day before the fire, and discovered that that the sprinkler system was shut off.
To date, no criminal charges have been filed in the case.