Flint, MI – By Taryn Asher
Flint – It won’t bring the victims back, but family members and survivors of the Clara Barton nursing home explosion feel they’re finally getting what they deserve.
The November 1999 explosion of the Clara Barton Nursing home killed 5 people and injured dozens more.
There is word of a multi-million dollar settlement andsomething the victims consider priceless-an explanation for what happened that fateful night.
Witnesses and loved ones remember the sites and sounds of the sudden explosion at the Clara Barton nursing home that cold November night.
But perhaps word of a multi-million dollar settlement to the victims families and survivors of the blast will help bring some closure.
More important than money is getting answers to their questions.
When it comes down to it, leading counsel in the lawsuit John Nickola says Flint dropped the ball. “Basically, lack of maintenance. Nothing surprising when you see it put together,” Nickola said.
In an interview last year, Nickola said that without civil litigation, we may have never known what happened.
This is what went wrong that night. Old support structures that held up the boiler collapsed due to extensive corrosion.
The collapse of that boiler led to a rupture of a gas main in the basement which sparked a natural gas explosion.
Nickola says a number of people responsible for maintaining the boiler didn’t do their jobs. He says the primary blame rests on building owners and maintenance personnel.
Also in that interview, Nickola said he hopes as a result of the lawsuit there is more accountability from the city of Flint and Genesee County when it comes to inspections to prevent this from ever happening again.