Dec. 14--BRIDGEPORT -- A mother and her three young children perished in a blaze that engulfed their housing complex apartment, sending ripples through the city's large public housing population about the safety of those complexes.
On Friday, four years and a month after that tragic fire, state Superior Court Judge Theodore Tyma ruled there was clearly a safety defect in the P.T. Barnum complex that contributed to the fire. But it is a contractor -- not the Bridgeport Housing Authority -- that must pay a $2.75 million settlement to the family because of an issue with smoke detectors.
"The fire was a tragic event, and all parties are happy this situation has been resolved," said Thomas Weihing, who represented the family of 22-year-old Tiana Black and her three children, Ny-shon Williams, 5, and 4-year-old twins, Nyaisja and Tyaisja Williams.
The fire broke out shortly after midnight Nov. 13, 2009. When firefighters arrived, flames were billowing from the unit's kitchen window.
Tyaisja was found on the floor of the dining room near the front door. Her twin sister was found on the living room couch. Neither child had any burns; both died from smoke inhalation.
Tiana Black was found by firefighters on the dining room floor near her daughter. She had burns on her arms, shoulders and face. Ny-shon was found lying at the foot of a second-floor bedroom window. He also died from smoke inhalation.
Ironically, Black and her children had visited the neighborhood fire station only a few days earlier, and a photograph of the visit was displayed in the home.
In the days following the fire residents of the housing complex and community activists raised questions about fire safety in the West Side complex, citing the unit's single door for entry and exits and the lack of sprinklers and fire escapes. City officials contended the P.T. Barnum complex complied with all fire codes.
A state fire marshal's report later declared the fire started when a gas stove rear burner that had been left on ignited the kitchen counter and cabinets. The report stated Black had been legally intoxicated at the time -- with a blood/alcohol level of .23 -- which "would likely have impaired her ability to respond appropriately to the initial alarm and to the fire itself."
However, Black's family persisted in their contention about safety concerns at the housing complex and filed lawsuits against the city, the housing authority and contractors who had renovated the complex. The lawsuit against the city was later dropped and on Monday the housing authority and the contractor, Worth Construction Co., of Bethel, agreed to set a settlement amount at $2.75 million.
However, they asked a judge to decide which one of them had to pay it.
During a hearing Friday, BHA officials testified sprinkler systems and fire escapes were too expensive, not feasible and not required under the fire codes. But an investigation by both sides showed that the smoke detectors in Black's apartment had not been interconnected in a way so if one sounded, they all sounded -- a city building code requirement that had been in the plans when Worth did the construction.
"We hired a licensed builder who is supposed to know the code," the BHA's lawyer, Frank Usseglio, argued before Judge Tyma. "Nobody ever told us there was a problem, we acted completely reasonably."
But Worth's lawyer, Martha Gaythwaite, claimed the apartment walls could have been ripped out and the smoke detectors disconnected from each other by someone else after the construction.
"They (the BHA) had the obligation to make the premises safe," she said.
"Even if we are negligent, we are not solely negligent," Usseglio retorted.
In the end, Tyma entered a verdict against Worth.
A representative of the construction company declined comment.
"It was a tragic, tragic situation and the judge's decision on who was responsible stands on its own," said BHA spokesman Robert Berchem.
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