The daughter and son of Firefighter Edward Stringer allege that Chuck M. Dai and Richard Dai failed to maintain the building that once housed Sing Way Cleaners in the 1700 block East 75th Street.
Neither the fire department nor the city is named as a defendant.
Edward Stringer Jr. and Jennifer Stringer's wrongful death lawsuit notes that their father's death certificate lists his cause of death as "compressional asphyxia from a roof collapse."
Stringer, 47, and fellow firefighter Corey Ankum, 34, responded to the blaze on Dec. 22 and began to ventilate the roof when it suddenly collapsed, killing them and injuring 19 others.
Records show that the city cited the owners for 14 separate violations, but the building was never repaired, according to The Tribune.
