Riverwalk Fire Victims Seek Answers Through Filing of Class-Action Complaint Against Developer and Contractors

A class-action complaint was filed in Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas this morning alleging that negligence on the part of the developer, building and management contractors of the Millennium apartment complex here contributed to the catastrophic losses suffered by hundreds of residents as a result of last Thursday’s eight-alarm fire, Robert J. Mongeluzzi, attorney for the plaintiffs said after the filing in Norristown.

The attorney, a partner in the Philadelphia firm of Saltz, Mongeluzzi, Barrett & Bendesky, P.C., in recent years has successfully represented victims of numerous construction disasters, including the collapses of the Tropicana casino garage, Pier 34, and the Kimmel parking garage. He said the Millennium residents, including the named plaintiffs on behalf of the class, recognized that only through litigation would they be able to determine the full extent of negligent conduct that led to the tragedy and fully recover their losses.

“We are underway in our investigative process and the filing of the class- action complaint (#08-23265, Montgomery county, PA Court of Common Pleas) is a crucial phase in the litigation,” explained Mongeluzzi. “We have assembled a team that includes leading construction and fire prevention system engineers, and we will get to the bottom of this and obtain justice for the victims.”

The attorney said initial reports are deeply troubling as to what may have caused the fire at the Stables apartment building under construction, and regarding the fire suppression systems at the adjacent Riverwalk buildings. According to the complaint, the Stables project was wood-frame construction without fire protection measures, including a functioning automatic sprinkler system.

“It is clear that neither the project under construction, nor the Riverwalk complex that was occupied, were built and managed to avoid a foreseeable catastrophic fire,” Larry Bendesky, an SMBB partner and co-counsel to the plaintiff-displaced residents said. “As we have observed in similar disasters, this represents a complete failure to prevent an easily preventable calamity.”

Mongeluzzi added, “The welder’s torch was apparently only one error in a series of contributing errors. We also intend to focus on the relationship between the developer, O’Neill Properties, and the general contractor, Merion Construction. It is the role of the GC to act independently to ensure the safety of the construction site. However, in this case Merion is a wholly owned subsidiary of O’Neill Properties.”

Defendants named in the Complaint are Pennsylvania businesses, O’Neill Properties Group, King of Prussia; Merion Construction, Inc., King of Prussia; L21 Construction Managers, Leesport; and Bozutto Corporation, of Greenbelt, Maryland.

The SMBB counsel team also includes Michael F. Barrett, David J. Cohen, Patrick Howard, and Brian D. Kent.

Saltz, Mongeluzzi, Barrett & Bendesky, P.C. is dedicated to the representation of people who have been seriously or fatally injured. With offices in Philadelphia and Cherry Hill, New Jersey, the firm specializes in highly complex cases, including those involving medical malpractice, catastrophic construction site and other workplace accidents, products and premises liability and civil rights, and plaintiff class actions in a wide array of areas. Its main office is located on the 52nd Floor of One Liberty Place in Center City Philadelphia. For further information call (215)496-8282 or visit www.smbb.com .