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LISBON -- The estate of one of the two men who perished, reportedly due to excessive heat, at the Oddfellows building in 2020 has filed a civil lawsuit this week in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court.
The lawsuit was filed under the name Matthew Gambrel, esquire, as the administrator of the estate of Terry Lee Rall, against the owners of the building BCHF Oddfellows LLC and the RLJ Management Co. Inc of Columbus. Additionally, the civil lawsuit seeks damages from Noel Hasson of East Liverpool, who is listed as the alleged property manager of the Oddfellows building at the time of the death of Rall and another resident living next door to Rall, Bill Alexander.
The historic building, which consists of 40 low-income apartments, reportedly did not have windows that opened for self ventilation at the time and the central air conditioning system was not operating properly for several months, according to the lawsuit. The company reportedly was notified in March and April of a problem with the air conditioning system and should have known prior to late May when the rise in temperatures necessitated the use of the air conditioning.
Some residents reportedly were transported for medical care due to heat related illnesses in the days prior to Rall's death.
After the bodies of the two deceased men were discovered, temperature readings taken inside the building ranged from 95 to 99 degrees, according to police and fire reports at the time. At that point, the remaining residents were removed from the building for their own safety.
Rall was 60 years old at the time of his death on May 28, 2020 and the lawsuit alleges his death was due to complications from the extended high environmental temperatures in his apartment.
Seeking in excess of $25,000, the lawsuit alleges both negligence and wrongful death on behalf of the defendants.
djohnson@mojonews.com