Man Sues City Over Deaths of Wife, 3 Children in Fire

A man whose wife and three youngest children died in a house fire a year ago while emergency personnel responded to the wrong address sued the city of Los Angeles and its police and fire departments on Tuesday.

Filed on behalf of Lawrence A. Middleton, the suit alleges that “a succession of reckless, grossly negligent and negligent conduct” led to the deaths of 36-year-old Beverly M. Middleton and the children--ages 11 months, 2 and 3--in Southwest Los Angeles on Jan. 30, 1995. The suit does not specify damages.

A communications snafu among dispatchers and operators led to a response time more than double the city’s norm, leaving the Middleton house ablaze for about 14 minutes before firefighters arrived, according to a city report released last year.

The disturbing 21-page report to the City Council revealed that dispatchers were given the correct address four times, yet still dispatched firetrucks to the wrong location miles away in Koreatown.

A 911 transcript shows that Vine Street, 9th Street and 9th Avenue were confused in a conversation over headsets.

At the time, fire officials said the mistake was caused by human error, but the lawsuit alleges a systemic problem.

“A neighbor placed the first 911 call to report the fire with people inside the house,” Middleton’s attorney, Howard K. Stern, wrote in the suit.

“This call should have resulted in almost immediate dispatch of [Los Angeles Fire Department] units to the safe extrication” of the Middletons.

Fire dispatchers received two more 911 calls before any firetrucks were sent. In addition, a police operator called fire dispatchers at the same time, reporting that police officers were at the scene of a fire in which victims were trapped.

Four children survived the blaze. They were rescued when 13-year-old Syreeta Middleton was able to open the security bars of a bedroom window and pull three of her younger sisters to safety.

The lawsuit contends that city officials admonished Lawrence Middleton and neighbors, both at the scene and on the telephone, not to try to rescue the family before firefighters arrived.

Officials at the city attorney’s office could not be reached for comment late Tuesday.