AvalonBay Hit with Class Actions over NJ Apartment Fire

Last week, two class action lawsuits were filed against luxury apartment building owner, AvalonBay Communities Inc., alleging that the company’s negligence in choosing flammable building construction materials added to the severity of the fires that occurred earlier this year.

The class action lawsuits filed in New Jersey state and federal court stem from a fire that completely destroyed a luxury apartment building in Edgewater, N.J., on Jan. 21 of this year which displaced over 1,000 residents. According to the class action lawsuits, a maintenance worker accidentally started the fire while using a blowtorch. Avalon sent apartment residents an email telling them there had been a minor fire, say the plaintiffs, when in actuality “the fire spread rapidly, and eventually led to the closure of several nearby streets and the declaration by Mayor Michael McPartland of a state of emergency.”

“Approximately 500 firefighters and other emergency personnel from 35 surrounding towns responded to the fire,” according to the New Jersey apartment fire class action lawsuit. “These first responders were still working well past 11 p.m. on Wednesday trying to extinguish the fire.”

Both the federal and state class action lawsuits allege that because AvalonBay used flammable materials, a lightweight wood that makes construction faster, to build the apartment complex, the fire became much more destructive than it would have been. According to the plaintiffs in the federal class action lawsuit, “Edgewater’s current fire chief, Tom Jacobson, said at a news conference that the fire swept through the complex quickly because of its lightweight wood construction and truss-style roof.”

Additionally, the plaintiffs in each class action lawsuit allege that AvalonBay knew that the materials it used in constructing the luxury apartment building were highly flammable. “Defendant knew, or should have known of the risk of fire during construction and for maintenance, and knew or should have known that the risk was increased when using lightweight wood construction and/or in allowing a blowtorch to be used in close proximity to these flammable materials,” argue the plaintiffs in the federal class action lawsuit.

According to both class action lawsuits, AvalonBay should have known the building material it used was highly flammable because other buildings using that material had burned in the past. The federal class action lawsuit alleges that in 2000, a partially constructed building burned down in the exact same place. Avalon settled the lawsuits that resulted from that fire, allege the federal plaintiffs, but continued to use the same highly flammable wood to continue construction.

The federal class action lawsuit further alleges that Avalon has been fined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for unsafe practices, specifically, in Massachusettes and New York for violations of the fire code.

The plaintiffs in both the federal and state cases are seeking Class certification. They also claim actual, general, special, incidental, statutory, punitive, treble and consequential damages, plus prejudgment and post-judgment interest on the monetary relief, as well as attorneys’ fees and costs.

The federal class action plaintiffs and proposed Class are represented by Daniel R. Lapinski of Wilentz Goldman & Spitzer PA.

The state class action plaintiffs and proposed Class are represented by Bruce D. Greenberg of Lite Depalma Greenberg LLC.

The AvalonBay Apartment Fire Class Action Lawsuits are DeMarco, et al. v. AvalonBay Communities Inc., et al., Case No. 2:15-cv-00628, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey and Loposky, et al. v. AvalonBay Communities Inc., et al., Case No. 000995, in the Superior Court of the State of New Jersey, County of Bergen.