Dozens of tenants of The Cooper apartments who were displaced by a historic six-alarm fire near downtown Fort Worth filed a lawsuit Wednesday, alleging the blaze was caused by a "series of reckless and negligent actions - culminating in an unlicensed and unqualified technician performing high-voltage rooftop electrical work without supervision."
Over the last month, many of the apartments' over 800 displaced tenants have expressed their frustration about the lack of communication and support from both the new and previous management company.
Some tenants of Building 1, where the fire started on the roof, have had their leases terminated due to structural damage and mold, and as a result, they will be unable to enter the building to get any of their belongings, according to RMP Living. This new management company has taken over from Cushman and Wakefield in the weeks after the June 23 fire.
"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."
The lawsuit was filed in a Tarrant County district court against The Cooper Fort Worth LLC, the property's owner Lightbulb Capital Group, the previous management company Cushman and Wakefield, RMP Living, electrical contractor Cano Electric Inc. and company owner Larry Cano,, and Armando Rodelo, who is the electrician who worked on an HVAC unit and replaced a breaker on the day of the fire, Steele said. The Star-Telegram is reaching out to the defendants for comment.
According to a press release from the law firm Varghese and Summersett, which represents the tenants, the residents allege that both the electrical contractor and Cushman & Wakefield failed to make sure the electrical work was "performed by a licensed and competent professional, ignored known safety risks, and provided no on-site supervision."
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"Following the blaze, management control shifted to RPM Living, which, according to the suit, further harmed residents by blocking access to their belongings for weeks, conditioning entry on signing sweeping legal waivers, and ultimately refusing Building 1 residents access altogether - forcing some to pay for third-party hazardous material remediation to recover what little property remained," the release states.
The plaintiffs are seeking over $1 million in damages, with the amount to be determined by a jury. Steele is also seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent the destruction of the apartment complex, buildings or property inside, in order to preserve evidence.
"We have exhausted every avenue in our efforts to obtain answers from Lightbulb and RPM Living," Steele said. "Our calls for transparency have been met with silence. The time for avoiding accountability is over. We will see them in court."
