Nursing Home Chain Sued for Fatal Bus Fire During Rita Evacuations

A Virginia-based nursing home chain has been sued by the estate of an elderly resident killed in a bus explosion while being evacuated from a Houston-area facility during Hurricane Rita.

The lawsuit was filed in Texas' Hidalgo County District Court on behalf of the estate of Mary Gillette by Vicki Whitlow Thomas, the executor of her estate. Gillette was one of 23 people killed in the explosion, according to the complaint

The lawsuit names Sunrise Senior Living Inc., Global Limo Inc., BusBank and driver Juan Robles Gutierrez as defendants. Sunrise is the owner of the Brighton Gardens nursing home in Bellaire, Texas, a suburb of Houston.

Global Limo owned the bus, according to the filing. BusBank was the broker that Sunrise contracted with to provide its residents with transportation.

According to Thomas' complaint, Gillette was a resident at Brighton Gardens Sept. 23 when Hurricane Rita threatened the Texas Gulf Coast. Brighton Gardens evacuated its residents and made arrangements to get them to the safety of another Sunrise facility in Dallas. To transport the evacuees, the nursing home contacted BusBank, which chartered the Global Limo bus.

Due to unprecedented traffic caused by the massive evacuations, the bus made slow progress. Sixteen hours after it left the nursing home, the bus burst into flames and exploded, killing 23 of the nursing home residents.

According to published reports, the bus was carrying 38 residents and six employees of Brighton Gardens at the time of the explosion.

Thomas cites worn tires and a faulty brake system as possible causes of the fire. She also says residents' oxygen tanks on board the bus may have contributed to combustion.

She charges that Sunrise did not exercise the required level of care in transporting its elderly residents. Specifically, she alleges that the nursing home did not take the proper precautions for transporting the oxygen tanks and failed to train its staff on proper procedures for removing patients from a bus in an emergency situation.

Thomas also contends that, even though Sunrise's staff members were under a duty to care for Gillette, they "put themselves first and left [her] on the bus to burn to death."

The lawsuit also accuses Sunrise of failing to ensure that the vehicle was "in good working order, properly registered and inspected." Thomas charges that the registration for the bus had expired and that Global Limo had an "extremely poor driver safety rating." Furthermore, she alleges that the bus did not have proper fire suppression equipment.

Thomas filed the lawsuit as a survival action, seeking $5 million in compensatory damages for Gillette's conscious pain and suffering, as well as for the mental anguish of knowing that she was going to die.

The lawsuit is seeking $25 million in punitive damages from Global Limo, alleging that it demonstrated a consistent disregard for the rights and welfare of others.

Thomas also requests a temporary injunction and restraining order preventing the disposal of the bus and allowing the plaintiff's experts to inspect it. She also asks that the court secure all records and documents pertaining to the bus.

Sunrise Chairman and CEO Paul Klaassen issued a statement Sept. 24 praising the actions of the staff members on the bus and expressing sympathy for the victims' families.

"The team members who were traveling on the bus were there to assist these residents during their trip to Dallas. Their heroic actions helped save the lives of many residents and I am extremely proud of their actions," Klaassen said.

"Sunrise has been devastated by this tragedy. ... Our primary concern is for the safety of our residents and we are shocked and saddened that this event occurred during our evacuation," he added.

At press time, Sunrise had not yet answered the complaint.