COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The U.S Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to consider an appeal from relatives of people killed in 1996 at an Ohio fireworks store.
The decision left intact a lower-court ruling that found the state fire marshal's office was immune from lawsuits alleging negligence in the deaths of nine people at Ohio River Fireworks in Scottown, about 100 miles south of Columbus.
Four of the victims were from West Virginia: Jason Wallace, 9, of Huntington; Matthew Sansom, 14, of Wayne; Floyd Tolliver, 34, of Branchland, and his daughter Ona, 8.
Lawyers for the relatives have argued that the fire marshal's office, conducting an undercover operation of illegal fireworks at the store three days before the fire, discovered the sprinkler system had been disabled but did nothing.
Attorneys for the state argued that the families never proved the store was violating safety regulations or that the sprinkler system was disabled the day of the fire. They also say the families didn't prove they relied on the fire marshal to protect them.
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that the state fire marshal is not protected as a government entity from being sued for negligence when carrying out a public duty.
The court then sent the case back to the 10th Ohio District Court of Appeals to resolve whether it applied in the fireworks store fire.
The appeals court ruled that the state fire marshal's office was entitled to immunity because it made a protected discretionary decision to postpone an inspection of the store until after the undercover operation and had a reasonable time to reschedule the inspection without being held liable.
``I'm terribly disappointed,'' Stanley Chesley, attorney for the relatives, said of the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.
He called it ``antiquated'' to suggest that the fire marshal's office, which has sole jurisdiction to regulate fireworks, should get public immunity.
A cigarette spark set off fireworks in the store, and fire and smoke blocked one of the store's two exits.
Authorities said Todd Hall of Proctorville, who has had the mental capacity of a 10-year-old since his brain was damaged in a 1987 skateboarding accident, tossed a lighted cigarette into the crowded store. Hall was found incompetent to stand trial and has been in a state mental institution.
