Panel OKs Payment of $1.5 Million for Family in Fatal Fire

A Los Angeles City Council panel Tuesday approved a $1.5-million settlement in a lawsuit stemming from a 1995 fire in which a woman and three of her children died while a 911 operator sent emergency crews to the wrong address.

The full council is scheduled to vote today on the settlement, which would place more than $900,000 in a life insurance annuity for the woman’s five surviving children, ages 8 to 16, and give $600,000 to her husband and the family’s lawyers.

“It was an awful tragedy,” said City Councilman Mike Feuer, who sits on the budget committee that voted Tuesday to approve the payout. “It would be unjust were we to do anything other than to provide some compensation.”

Beverly Middleton, 32, and three toddlers--ages 11 months, 2 and 3--died in the 2 a.m. blaze at their Southwest Los Angeles home. Four others survived because of the quick thinking of Syreeta Middleton, then 13, who managed to release the stubborn security bars from a bedroom window and pull three younger sisters to safety.

An emergency operator mishandled the original 911 call, sending firefighters to 9th Street instead of 9th Avenue. Although police were dispatched to the scene, it was 16 minutes before the fire engines pulled up--despite more 911 calls from neighbors and the LAPD.

At the scene, residents and police officers urged Lawrence Middleton, Beverly’s husband, not to attempt a rescue until the firefighters arrived, his attorney said.

“It’s good to put this to rest for everybody involved,” said the lawyer, Howard K. Stern.

But Stern said he wants to see state law changed to clarify municipalities’ responsibility for answering 911 calls and fighting fires. Throughout the legal battle, city officials insisted that they have no duty to respond to 911 calls.

“I think it’s definitely something that could possibly happen again,” Stern said.

But Feuer said the Fire Department has changed its policy to require that a cross street be specified in 911 calls to avoid future mix-ups. Additional training also has been implemented, he said.

In a report to the City Council, Deputy City Atty. Mark Francis Burton said that taking the case to trial would be too risky.

“The plaintiffs, especially the minor children of the decedent, will present themselves as extremely sympathetic individuals whose mother was taken from them at a time in their development when a secure and constant home environment is most important,” the report says. “It is anticipated that the jury will find against the city on the issue of liability and could return a verdict far in excess of the proposed settlement.”