Insurance companies sue to recoup $1.66 million paid to Grafton fire victims

ELYRIA — Two lawsuits filed this week seek to recover more than $1.66 million from the man whose alleged negligence started the April 2019 fire that destroyed a block of downtown Grafton. Grange Insurance Co. and Scott Bohac, doing business as Lu's Pizza in Grafton, have sued Kelly Waddell and his 216 Fusion Restaurant in Lorain County Common Pleas Court. They argue Waddell's negligence caused the fire that destroyed both restaurants and damaged several other businesses in Grafton on April 1, 2019. In its lawsuit, Grange said it paid Bohac $633,704 for losses his former business suffered in the fire, and that he lost uninsured personal property worth more than $25,000. The lawsuit is asking that Waddell be held liable for those costs. The lawsuit alleges that Waddell negligently caused the fire by using contaminated kerosene in a torpedo-style portable heater, which caught fire when an extension cord attaching it to a wall socket sparked and ignited the fuel. Grange Insurance is "entitled to recover from (Waddell and 216 Fusion Restaurant) all amounts paid" to Bohac and Lu's Pizza as a result of the fire, the lawsuit alleges. The suit is assigned to Judge James Miraldi's courtroom. A second lawsuit filed by Allstate Insurance, Smith & Gladish LLC and Cuatro Ojos LLC, also in Lorain County Common Pleas Court, seeks to recoup more than $1,027,000 for Smith & Gladish for lost property, damage to business personal property and lost business income. Cuatro Ojos is seeking $22,139 in damages it suffered as a result of the fire. Allstate paid out those amounts to its clients for fire losses, and attributed those losses to Waddell's negligence. That suit is assigned to Judge Chris Cook's courtroom. Waddell could not immediately be reached for comment. There were no injuries to human life or deaths as a result of the fire, which firefighters from 12 area departments put 750,000 gallons of water on before it was extinguished. Waddell's insurance carrier, Erie Insurance, and Bohac paid a portion of the cost of the post-fire cleanup, village officials said in November 2019. Lu's Pizza, a Grafton institution since 1977, later reopened at 945 Main St. under new management. Following a four-month investigation, the State Fire Marshal's Office ruled the cause of the blaze "undetermined," but noted after conducting witness interviews that it probably started in a basement garage at 931 Main St. where Waddell and a friend were working. Waddell told fire marshals that he was pouring kerosene into a portable heater when an extension cord sparked and ignited the fuel and the floor of the garage, according to the August 2019 State Fire Marshal's Office report on the blaze. Any evidence to support or contradict that version of events was completely destroyed in the fire, investigators said. The lawsuits filed this week were the second and third that have arisen from the fire. The village of Grafton sued Waddell over more than $12,600 in fire damage to village property, including electrical transmission equipment, in Common Pleas Court in November 2019. The village and Waddell settled the case in Judge John Miraldi's court in August 2020. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed in court records. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him @daveobrienCT on Twitter.