Sofa Super Store case ends

Sofa Super Store and its owners have agreed to pay about $1.9 million to settle claims brought by the families of nine Charleston firefighters who died fighting an inferno at the West Ashley showroom in June 2007, court records show.

The action effectively brings to a close the various lawsuits surrounding the deadly fire at the massive Savannah Highway furniture outlet. In all, more than $18 million in settlements were paid out over four years of litigation involving a field of more than two dozen defendants, said Motley Rice attorney Kevin Dean, who represents some of the families who sued.

The store and its owners also settled with nine former firefighters who filed lawsuits alleging physical and emotional ailments as a result of the blaze, said Carl Pierce, whose firm represented five of the men. Pierce did not provide a specific figure, but he said each of the men received several hundred thousand dollars.

A variety of furniture makers and other companies already had settled in the wrongful death case, and the store and its owners were among the last major defendants. That group included Sofa Super Store, primary owner Herb Goldstein, Herbert Goldstein LLC, the Goldstein Family Limited Partnership and Furniture Retailers of Charleston Inc.

Richard Rosen, the store's attorney, could not be reached for comment Friday.

The money will be split among the families of fallen firefighters Brad Baity, Mike Benke, Melvin Champaign, Earl Drayton, Mike French, Billy Hutchinson, Mark Kelsey, Louis Mulkey and Brandon Thompson. Between 33 percent and 40 percent of each payout will go to attorney fees, according to court documents.

The firefighters' families also previously had received $637,355 and $775,470 each from workers' compensation and a public fund.

"My children and I, as well as the other Charleston 9 families, have suffered such an immense loss that no other family should ever have to endure," said Heather Baity, whose husband died in the blaze. "My hope is that we not only continue to honor the memory of the Charleston 9, but also call attention to the negligence and failures that led to the tragedy."

The fire, thought to have been started by a discarded cigarette in the loading dock area, was the largest single loss of firefighters in the country since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The wrongful death suits alleged that the owners of the building made multiple changes and additions to the site without adhering to national fire and electrical codes, contributing to the fire's rapid spread from a loading dock into the store's massive showroom. Flames ignited highly flammable polyurethane foam contained in sofas and other furniture, and the store's maze-like layout made it impossible for firefighters to escape before flames consumed the building and the roof collapsed, the suits contended.

The store's lawyers countered that negligence and incompetence on the part of the city and its fire commanders contributed to the deaths. They were pushing to add the city as a defendant in the lawsuits, which could have potentially reduced the award the store and Goldstein might have had to pay. A judge barred the city from being added to the case, but that decision was under appeal.

Dean said the families decided it was in their best interest to settle rather than prolong their emotional trauma through a lengthy appeal and the store's efforts to delay the case. "It just came to the point where it was not worth the continuing aggravation," he said.