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Horse show tent fire spurs lawsuit
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Scottsdale and Rural/ Metro Fire Department have been sued for failing to identify fire hazards last year at a popular horse show at West-World of Scottsdale, where an overloaded extension cord caused a vendor tent to become engulfed in flames.
The lawsuit, filed Jan. 25 by Hanover Insurance Co., also lists a number of other groups, including the Arizona Quarter Horse Association, as negligent for the blaze that destroyed a 12,000-squarefoot tent and threatened a plywood barn stabling 100 horses during the Arizona Sun Country Circuit quarter horse show.
The insurance company sued on behalf of its client, On the Rail Clothing Co., a purveyor of horse-riding attire. Hanover Insurance is seeking to recover the money it paid to the clothing company. The lawsuit, filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, seeks $100,000 from each defendant.
"We don’t believe the city was negligent," Scottsdale assistant city attorney Deborah Robberson said Monday. She said an attorney for the Arizona Quarter Horse Association was defending the city in the suit. A representative with the equestrian group could not be reached.
A Rural/Metro investigation conducted after the Jan. 29, 2004, earlymorning blaze showed while there were "grossly" overloaded circuits and explosive gasses nearby, it was ultimately an overheated extension cord that sparked the blaze. The tent was filled with Western wear, jewelry, saddles and riding apparel.
The department never issued a citation because it could not pinpoint which of the 80 vendors might have overloaded the extension cord. Three inspections and a "walk through" were completed prior to the blaze, Rural/Metro officials said last year.
Rural/Metro Corp. spokeswoman Liz Merritt said Monday it is company policy not to comment on matters involving pending litigation. The lawsuit lists Scottsdale as a defendant because it was responsible for "enforcing minimum fire-prevention codes and standards" at the city-run WestWorld facility.
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