Normal Heights Fire Victim Sues City for Millions

An attorney who was burned fighting the Normal Heights fire, which destroyed or badly damaged 102 homes last June, filed a $50-million class action suit Monday against the City of San Diego.

Judith Abeles, 48, is seeking damages from the city on behalf of about 400 Normal Heights residents left homeless by the June 30 brush fire that swept up the steep Mission Valley hillside and destroyed almost every house along the canyon rim in the Normal Heights neighborhood.

Property damage was estimated at $8.5 million by fire inspectors but Abeles thinks it was much higher when cars and household goods are included. She managed to save her own home by remaining after firefighters pulled back but lost fencing, trees and a lath house.

Abeles alleges in her suit that city officials “took little or no action” to clear dry brush from public lands in and near the canyons where the fire started or to implement an effective brush abatement program on private property.

She has asked the court to certify the suit as a class action so that each Normal Heights fire victim would not be forced to file a separate suit.

“I don’t expect to handle the case myself,” Abeles said. She is seeking a large law firm with the financial resources to handle what could be a lengthy and expensive legal battle, she said.

Abeles said she suffered first- and second-degree burns over much of her body in fighting the fire at her Arthur Avenue home. Fire officials said at the time that there were no serious injuries at the fire and that only a few residents were treated at first-aid stations.

A $50-million claim filed with the city by Abeles in September was rejected by city officials Nov. 21.