Excerpts from rrstar.com:
A lawsuit filed one year to the day after a June 25, 2017 fire destroyed the historic Hanley Furniture building claims the city refused to allow owners of an adjacent building to access their property, allowing 3 feet of rainwater to pool on the roof and damage the structure.
Rockford Mutual Insurance Co. — which insured the building on behalf of Sam and Linda Pirrello, owners of 307 S. Main St. — filed the lawsuit at the Winnebago County Courthouse. The lawsuit seeks damages of more than $464,472 — the amount the insurance company paid to the Pirrellos.
Mayor Tom McNamara said the city acted exactly as it should have and praised the coordinated response by Rockford firefighters, public works crews, and the water division. Because of concern about the Hanley Building’s structural integrity, the city didn’t allow any work to proceed at the adjacent building, but the fire department did allow tenants and owners the chance to enter the building briefly to assess damage and retrieve small items.
“We did everything we could to make sure everyone was safe, and we tried to mitigate the damage to that building as much as we could,” McNamara said. “Not one person got injured in one of the largest fires our city has seen in 30 years outside that Asher Tool fire.”
