The victims of the Feb. 13, 2001, fire and explosion at the
former Temple-Inland Particleboard Plant in Mount Jewett are
appealing a product liability suit to the state Supreme Court.
Recently, the Supreme Court granted the allowance for appeal to
Tony Barnish, Sandy Bussard and David Johnson, all of whom were
injured in the fire; as well as Jody Covert and Joyce Engelken,
whose husbands – James Covert and Gregg Engelken, respectively –
died as a result of the fire.
The victims had filed suit in 2003 in McKean County Court of
Common Pleas against several outside contractors involved in
working at the plant prior to the explosion – KWI Building Co.,
United McGill Corp., McGill Airclean Corp., Fenwal Safety Systems
Inc. and GreCon Electronics Inc. All of the defendants settled with
the plaintiffs in 2004, except for GreCon Electronics Inc., which
made the spark sensors that were in place at the plant since
1991.
In October 2005, McKean County President Judge John Cleland
ruled that GreCon could not be held responsible for the sensors
failing the day of the fire, as the sensors had operated properly
for 10 years prior to that. Cleland said the plaintiffs were
required to prove the sensors were defective, the defect caused the
harm and the defect existed when the product left the company’s
hands, according to court records.
The 10-year use of the sensors without incident showed that a
previous defect didn’t exist, Cleland ruled, but said the defect
may have been caused by wear and tear.
The state Superior Court agreed with Cleland’s ruling. In an
opinion issued in January of 2007, Judge John Bender ruled that the
plaintiffs failed to present a case free of secondary causes such
as wear and tear.
“A jury could not reasonably infer that a defect existed at the
time the sensors left GreCon’s hands, as any such inference would
constitute mere speculation,” Bender stated.
After the Superior Court’s decision, the plaintiffs sought
allowance to appeal to the state Supreme Court. On April 3, the
Supreme Court granted that permission.
The issue for appeal is whether the Superior Court erred in
upholding Cleland’s decision. The attorneys for the plaintiffs and
for GreCon were directed by the Court to address the continued
successful use of a product on the malfunction theory of strict
product liability, according to court records.
The plaintiffs’ briefs have been filed with the court. GreCon
has until July 7 to file briefs in the matter.
The sparks that led to the fatal explosion and fire came from a
welding torch being used on a catwalk. Outside contractors had been
welding and sparks had fallen into sawdust, igniting it.
Employees of the particleboard plant had worked for several
hours to try to extinguish all the sparks, but some sparks
eventually entered an auger, causing an explosion and fire.
Three men – Gregg Engelken, James Covert and Roger Smith – died
as a result of injuries suffered in the explosion and fire. Several
others, including Barnish, Bussard and Johnson, were seriously
injured.
In April of 2003, Temple-Inland announced the shutdown of its
particleboard plant in Mount Jewett, citing weak market conditions.
The company still operates a medium density fiberboard facility in
Mount Jewett.
