A nursing home faces a Pennsylvania wrongful death lawsuit after a woman died in a facility fire where the sprinkler system failed to activate.

The family of 85-year old Theresa M. filed a Pennsylvania wrongful death lawsuit against Barclay Friends, the nursing home where she died, and Tyco SimplexGrinnell LP, the company which maintained the sprinkler system. Theresa’s family accuses them of failing to ensure that fire suppression equipment in the building was working, intact, and had access to water.

The fire broke out on a back patio of Barclay Friends, then reportedly traveled up the building’s vinyl siding and into the attic. Four residents, including Theresa, died in the blaze after being trapped by the rapidly spreading flames. The Pennsylvania wrongful death lawsuit claims that the building’s sprinkler system was not receiving water on the night of the fire and that a valve in the mechanical room was shut off.

The Pennsylvania wrongful death lawsuit claims that SimplexGrinnell, the company which managed the facility’s sprinkler system, failed to properly maintain and inspect the sprinkler system. The complaint described this alleged negligence as “reckless, willful and wanton”.

“SimplexGrinnell know or should have known that failing to inspect the fire suppression and/or sprinkler systems and failing to ensure that the systems were maintained in proper working condition could result in serious injury or death to the residents of the facility,” the Pennsylvania wrongful death lawsuit claims.

The fire allegedly started as a result of a Barclay Friends employee smoking on the patio. Allegedly, this was a repeated occurrence despite the strict no smoking rule for Barclay Friends residents, visitors, and employees.

“We have spoken with a witness whose house was directly across from where the fire occurred who said that they repeatedly, consistently, saw employees smoking in this area, in their words, ‘too many times to count’,” the plaintiff’s attorney told Law360.

Theresa’s family believes that her death was entirely preventable and was a result of negligence on the part of Barclay Friends. The Pennsylvania wrongful death lawsuit argues that the “negligence, gross negligence, carelessness, recklessness and outrageous conduct” of Barclay Friends and SimplexGrinnell caused Theresa to experience “an excruciating, terrifying and lonely death as the flames consumed her”.

“The unspeakable horror that [Theresa] went through in the final minutes of her life is beyond imagination,” the plaintiffs’ counsel said. “It is everyone’s greatest fear to die in a fire and we are going to do everything possible to hold accountable those we believe responsible for this preventable fire.

Theresa’s family aims to hold Barclay Friends responsible for the sprinkler system failure, the failure to enforce its no-smoking policy among its employees, and the failure to ensure that their employees safely evacuated residents from the building.

The Pennsylvania wrongful death lawsuit includes claims of negligence, reckless and outrageous conduct, and wrongful death. Theresa’s family seeks compensatory and punitive damages, court costs, and attorneys’ fees.

The Pennsylvania Wrongful Death Lawsuit is Case No. 171204274 in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas.