Insurance company refuses to pay, claims building owner may have played role in Byron fire

A Wisconsin-based insurance company is refusing to cover a downtown Byron building ravaged by fire, claiming the building’s owner may have been involved with starting the blaze, according to recently filed court documents. Badger Mutual Insurance Co. levied the allegations July 3 in its response to a lawsuit filed by Janelle’s Family Restaurant and its owner, Robert Durk Jr. Badger Mutual’s Southfield-based attorney, John Curley, could not be reached for comment on the allegations. Durk’s Farmington Hills-based attorney, Stuart Sklar, could not be reached for comment on the insurance company’s allegations, but he told Mlive-The Flint Journal previously that his client had no role in starting the October 2012 fire that damaged multiple historic building in downtown Byron.