Elgin family sues NICOR over house explosion
The owners of an Elgin house that exploded and burned to the ground earlier this month after an apparent natural gas leak have filed a lawsuit against Nicor Gas.
Isaias Montes, 50, and Rutila Morales, 48, claim in a lawsuit filed in Cook County Court that Nicor Gas employees failed to ensure residents' safety while they inspected and tested the house on the 700 block of Elma Avenue for a natural gas leak.
The ranch home exploded just after 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 12, causing a fire that destroyed the home.
The family is seeking more than $50,000 in damages from the utility company.
Montes and Morales were in the house at the time with their children, Caroline Montes, 23, and Christian Montes, 7, along with family friend Fabiola Martinez, 23. The five were sent to area hospitals suffering injuries ranging from bruises to first- and second-degree burns. All have since been released.
In the three-page suit, the family claims Nicor workers were negligent when it failed to evacuate the home after the homeowners alerted Nicor of apparent gas bubbles emanating from the home's paved driveway.
Upon inspecting and testing the ambient air in the basement, workers told the residents the house was safe and instructed them to stay in the basement with an open window, the suit says.
The suit says Nicor workers then began to dig into the driveway using powertools. That's when the "low order explosion" occurred, "knocking the walls outward and causing the roof to pancake to the floor," the complaint says.
The suit says Nicor workers failed to ensure the area was safe and failed to shut off the gas to the area before digging into the driveway.
"If only Nicor had turned off the gas to the area or had told the Moraleses to leave the house, the horrible injuries and damage to the house might have been avoided," the family's attorney, Francis Patrick Murphy, said in a news release. "As a result of Nicor's incompetence, there has been tremendous suffering and a wonderful family's life has been changed forever."
Richard Caragol, a Nicor spokesman, said he could not provide details regarding the lawsuit, but acknowledged the company had received notice of the suit.
The city of Elgin has yet to issue a cause of the explosion; officials say the investigation is ongoing.
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