Small contractors replacing the deck on a small bridge last August may have started a big fire in the dry hills of eastern Washington state. No one was killed, but property damage costs are steep, and the contractors and their liability insurers could face big claims.
A dozen property owners in Washington state have filed a lawsuit that blames the bridge's general contractor and steel erector for a fire that consumed 23,500 acres and more than 60 homes in the area of Cle Elum, about 75 miles outside of Seattle. Initial assessments of the property damage put the total at more than $8 million, but the final cost will be higher.