A woman tried to clean the fur off a dead squirrel with a propane torch and burned down the building.
A recent renters insurance settlement case serves as an important caution to anyone who would be inclined to use a blowtorch on a squirrel. A Michigan woman learned this the hard way after she and her boyfriend burned down her apartment complex.
The couple had been at the woman’s home when they decided to try to remove a dead squirrel’s fur.
The woman’s boyfriend was using the blowtorch to take the fur off the squirrel when things got out of hand. This occurred in October 2012. He had been using a propane torch to clean the fur away to make the animal easier to prepare. Unfortunately, the torch lit much more than the squirrel’s fur and spread into a massive fire. The blaze moved from the apartment into other units, leading to $2 million in damage. This led to a massive renters insurance claim.
The woman filed a renters insurance claim in order to help pay for the damages to the building.
The case of the fire has been in court ever since the original claim was made and when the apartment complex owners sued. This case has moved its way through the appeals court, with rulings changing along the way.
There was a time at which an appeals court had approved a $2 million settlement in favor of the owners of the apartment complex. That said, a further court reversed that decision in August 2016.
The two parties – the tenant and the apartment complex owners – have continued to battle this case in court. However, the war between them finally came to an end when the complex owners and the woman’s renters insurance company decided it was time to come to an agreement. They agreed on a settlement of $300,000, which the insurance company will pay to the complex owners.
When all was said and done, the woman was fortunate to have had the coverage at all. Many tenants don’t realize that contents insurance is typically quite affordable. It isn’t until something happens that they realize the value of the coverage for both their possessions and also certain forms of liability.
Wow
That is the most idiotic excuse I’ve ever heard. They were plainly lying about what they were doing…you would gut, skin, quarter, etc. a Squirrel and then cook it. A blowtorch burning hair off would REEK…If I lived near them I’d call the FD for that alone.