Blog Post

$29 Million Wrongful Death Award in Kings County Fire


July 09, 2008
Topic: Explosions and Fires

The families of five people who were killed in a fire that broke out at the Northgate County Apartments in July of last year have been awarded a total settlement of $29 million, said to be one of the largest wrongful death verdicts in Kings County history. The five, a teenage couple and their two-month-old daughter and two more kids, perished in the blaze that gutted a total of nine apartments as it quickly spread from building to building.

The couple, 19-year-old Derik Faubion and Michell Mathison, their two month old daughter, Hayden Allison Faubion, and Michell's step siblings, 4-year-old Lexus May Bisnar and 2-year-old Ariel Nel Bisnar, were sleeping in their second floor apartment. The two siblings were there to spend the night. Faubion and Michell were engaged, and had plans to get married after they had saved enough money.

No one knows for sure what caused the fire, although a bag full of plastics and paper on the patio below their second floor apartment was believed to be the source of the fire. Once it started, however, the fire spread at blazing speed across the rows of buildings, destroying nine apartments in all, and forcing terrified tenants out their apartments. When firefighters arrived, the entire apartment complex was ablaze, and the roof was completely covered in flames. When the couple's apartment door was broken down, firefighters found Michell with the kids, while Derik had fallen to the floor below.

The clincher in the wrongful death case came after a letter was found from Lemoore Real Estate and Property Management, the company that managed the apartment building, to tenants in which it said that many of the apartments had no fire or smoke detectors. The letter was sent to tenants a whole six months before the fire.

On Tuesday, a judge awarded the families of Derik and Michell a sum of $29 million. While Derik's mother and his grandparents will receive $8 million in damages for the loss of their son, Michell's mother and father, who are divorced, and Michelle' stepfather - who is the father of Lexus and Ariel- will receive $21 million.

When the fire broke out, both families who lived nearby rushed to the apartment building, and could do nothing but watch helplessly as the flames consumed their families. The sense of loss the families feel is beyond imagination. In one stroke, they have lost children and grandchildren, effectively erasing their lineage. All these factors no doubt played a part in the judgment.

For Lemoore Real Estate and Property Management to know that there was a potential fire safety breach in the building under its management, and do nothing about, is appalling. They had a full six months to take action, six months to make sure that each apartment in the building was fitted with fire and smoke detectors, six months in which the steps they took could have saved five young lives. Instead, they chose to be negligent and will now have to pay.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of fires. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.


The California personal injury attorneys at The Reeves Law Group represent victims of accidents, injuries and wrongful death throughout California from our offices in Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Diego County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, Ventura County, Fresno County, Kern County, Sacramento County, San Fernando Valley, Long Beach, Antelope Valley, Torrance, Glendale, Bakersfield, Santa Ana, San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, Ontario, and Victorville.