Comment on Lawsuits filed in fire that killed four firefighters as deadline ticks past

The daytime inferno that was broadcast live by television crews started in an Indian restaurant and spread to the rest of the Southwest Inn in the 6800 block of the Southwest Freeway in Sharpstown triggering a deadly roof collapse, Hall said. Because the restaurant owners knew the fire had been burning in a wall for at least two hours before the firefighters arrived, and did not tell the fire department about it, Hall said they were "excessively negligent." If the results are favorable to the families, the City of Houston has piggybacked on the claim and could be reimbursed as much as $2.3 million for what it paid after the deaths, confirmed City Attorney Donna Edmundson. "Because the firefighters are suing a third party, the City has filed a petition in intervention seeking to recover benefits paid under the workers compensation act," Edmundson said by email.