Tenants have been protesting outside The Cooper apartment complex for more than a month, demanding access to their units to retrieve their belongings.
FORT WORTH, Texas — After weeks of protests following a six-alarm fire at The Cooper Apartments, dozens of tenants displaced by that fire have filed a lawsuit against the complex seeking damages.
According to a press release from Varghese Summersett, the Texas law firm representing the tenants in the case, some residents have been told they’ll never be allowed to access their apartment or belongings, losing irreplaceable possessions and critical documents.
“What happened at The Cooper is unfathomable,” said the residents’ attorney, Katie Steele, of Varghese Summersett in a statement. “No one should lose their home due to negligence — and then be shut out from recovering what little remained. This is cruelty piled on top of catastrophe.”
In addition to the apartment complex, the apartment owner, the property management, the electrical contractor, the owner of the electrical contractor and the electrician on site that day are all listed as defendants in the suit.
Claims in the lawsuit include negligence, gross negligence, breach of contract, premises liability and violations of Tenant Rights under the Texas Property Code.
Several plaintiffs shared emotional accounts of how the fire and what followed in the weeks that followed upended their lives.
“It’s been an emotional toll,” said Billy McReynolds, who lived at The Cooper at the time of the June fire. “There’s no closure. When is this gonna end?”
McReynolds said he lost critical documents in the blaze, including his passport, and he didn’t have a real ID. The loss had real consequences. Without an ID, he was unable to board a flight to attend his mother’s memorial service.
“I can’t take that back,” he said. “I have to live with that for the rest of my life.”
Another plaintiff, Zaire Harris, described the uncertainty and stress of going weeks without basic needs or access to his home. He said the experience has been mentally and emotionally draining.
“Anxiety… thinking about it before you go to bed, when you wake up, not knowing if today is the day I get the answers I want,” Harris said.
Both tenants said they have grown frustrated by what they view as a lack of transparency and action from the property’s owners and managers.
“They have put a wall between them and 834 people — and that’s why we’re here,” McReynolds said. “Fluffy words, very little action.”
Attorney Katie Steele, who is representing a growing group of 49 former residents, said her clients were not only displaced but also denied basic tenant rights.
“There are things people will never be able to recover: pets, loved ones’ ashes,” Steele said. “I hope we get to the bottom of what happened and how it got to be so bad.”
Steele has also reportedly sought a temporary restraining order to prevent the destruction of any portions of the apartment complex in order to preserve evidence.
According to the suit, the fire erupted during an unsupervised breaker replacement, which the residents allege the electrical contractor and the property management failed to ensure was done by a licensed professional. They also accused the defendants of ignoring known safety risks and not providing on-site supervision.
“This reckless disregard for safety directly contributed to the catastrophic fire that destroyed homes, displaced hundreds of residents, and upended lives,” the suit reads.
The residents are seeking more than $1 million in relief from the defendants. However much they are awarded will ultimately be decided by a jury.
A spokesperson for The Cooper said in a statement to WFAA, “We are reviewing the allegations in the lawsuit and are unable to comment.”
According to the Fort Worth Fire Department, the fire was reported around 1:30 p.m. at an apartment complex on the 1000 block of West Rosedale Street. WFAA confirmed the building is the Cooper Modern Apartments, commonly known as The Cooper.
When firefighters arrived on the scene, there were reports of people trapped inside their apartment due to heavy smoke, fire officials said in a press release Tuesday.
The heat complicated firefighting operations as firefighters required additional rehab to stay hydrated, the release states. About 170 firefighters and 64 fire apparatuses responded to the scene, officials said.
Fort Worth Fire PIO Craig Trojacek said the wind caused the fire to spread; however, it appears that the fire started on the 5th floor. Crews used drones to locate hot spots.
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