Fire Lawsuits Threatened in N.M.
Thursday, June 15th, 2000 Litigation PropertyAfter wildfires consumed more than 46,000 acres in an out-of-control "prescribed burn" set by the U.S. Park Service near Los Alamos, N.M., several homeowners who lost their houses are threatening lawsuits following a recent government report saying the Park Service erred in planning and executing the fire. According to Carole Walker, manager of the Western Insurance Information Service‘s Denver office, about 4,000 property damage claims have been filed with insurers since the fires began on May 4. Dollar estimates for the claims, she said, were still unavailable at press time, in mid-May, as many residents, plus the hundreds of cat adjusters who have been flown into Los Alamos, had not yet been allowed to visit the scene to assess the damage.
