Fire truck
CHARLESTON – A Dunbar couple blames Appalachian Power for a house fire last summer after an electrical line fell onto their home.
Susan and Russell Martin filed their complaint March 18 in federal court against Appalachian Power Company and parent company American Electric Power Company.
According to the complaint, the Martin’s home on Stewart Avenue in Dunbar caught fire June 15 when an energized AEP distribution line detached and fell onto the roof, igniting the structure.
An AEP and/or APCO employee or contractor called 911 to report the incident, and the Dunbar Fire Department responded to the scene. A DFD incident report identified the fire’s area of origin as the roof and concluded it was caused by equipment failure or a heat source associated with the electrical line.
No one was at home at the time of the incident, and firefighters had to forcibly enter the home after observing smoke coming from inside the structure. The family dog escaped during the fire department inspection of the home.
The Martins say their home sustained extensive damage, including damage to the roof, porch, siding, attic, interior living areas and personal property as well as smoke, heat and water damage throughout the home.
The complaint says discovery will show AEP and/or APCO employees were working in the area when the fire occurred and that negligence allowed the hazardous conditions exist to cause the line to fall onto the home.
A week after the Martins reported the loss to the defendants on June 18, the defendants denied responsibility. The defendants claimed a tree located outside of their right-of-way caused the incident.
But the fire department incident report disputes the defendants’ claim of not being responsible for the fire. The report contains no finding that vegetation caused the fire and identifies the electrical line as the cause, according to the complaint.
“Even assuming arguendo that vegetation played any role, AEP and/or APCO owed plaintiffs a non-delegable duty to inspect, manage and maintain safe clearance between vegetation and energized electrical lines, including vegetation located adjacent to or outside formal right-of-way boundaries where contact was foreseeable,” the complaint states. “Industry standards and applicable safety codes require utilities to account for off-right-of-way vegetation that poses a risk of contact with electrical lines, and defendants’ failure to do so constitutes a breach of their duties.”
The Martins also allege the defendants violated regulations enforced by the state Public Service Commission and the National Electrical Safety Code. They say those violations amount to negligence per se because they caused the type of fire risk those rules are meant to prevent.
They seek compensatory damage for property loss, diminution of property value, loss of use and enjoyment of the home and emotional distress as well as punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interests, court costs, attorney fees and other relief.
The Martins are being represented by Brian R. Bowen and C. Edward Amos II of Segal & Amos in Charleston. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case 2:26-cv-00206
