GRAND HAVEN, MI (WHTC) - A fire 18 months ago that left residents of 32 units at the ClearView Apartment complex on Holland’s North Side homeless continues to have legal ramifications.
Two separate lawsuits have been filed in Ottawa County Circuit Court against Barbara Pellow, who apparently agreed to assume responsibility for all damages when she signed her lease to her unit prior to the October, 2012 incident. Although apartment rules and township ordinances prohibit open fires on upper floors of multi-story apartments, Pellow’s boyfriend Khek Chantalavong apparently used a torch to burn off the skin of a squirrel that he had caught, and while preparing the animal for eating, he left the torch on, causing it to ignite a plastic plant holder that started the fire. Pellow was not home at the time of the incident. The damages sought by Travelers and Auto Owners total more than two million dollars.