Flammable Couch Slip Cover Ignites, Killing Two Children

On December 22, 2003, in the Plaintiff’s apartment in Charleston S.C., a small open flame ignited a sofa slip cover sold by a major retailer, but made in Pakistan. The highly flammable fabric slip cover spread the fire quickly, engulfing the sofa it covered. When the polyurethane foam within the sofa became involved, the fire quickly grew to lethal proportions, and a young child, age 5, and his sister, age 8, tragically met their untimely deaths. The case was filed in South Carolina District Court, Charleston Division July, 2008 against the maker and all in the chain of distribution. The parties reached a confidential settlement in August 2009, following a year of discovery in the case. See the video comparison test above, of an exemplar slip cover like the one involved in the case, verses a naturally flame resistant polyester fiber sofa slip cover fabric (and commercially available at the same retailer), and both being exposed to the same open flame ignition.

Flammable Hair Care Products

Foster Law Firm, L.L.P. was associated for the plaintiff in a case filed October 21, 2003, Tony Pixley as Personal Representative of the Estate of Frankie Pixley vs. J. M. Products, Inc., House of Cheatham and SC Department of Mental Retardation, Case No. 2003-CP-32-3959, filed in Lexington County, South Carolina. On November 2, 2002, plaintiff's decedent accidentally ignited her hair while lighting a cigarette. Her hair had been treated with oil sheen hairspray and a petroleum based gel product which caused the decedent's hair to ignite and burn rapidly, dripping burning liquid hair care products onto her clothing, severely burning her. After six weeks in intensive care in the Augusta Burn Center, including 17 surgeries and 1.9 million dollars in medical expenses, the decedent succumbed to her injuries and died. The case was settled in December of 2005.

Wrongful Power Termination

Foster Law Firm filed suit in July, 2005 on behalf of a man and his wife whose electrical power was wrongfully terminated to their South Carolina mobile home, made by Fleetwood Homes of Georgia, Inc.  The power company, Progress Energy Carolinas, Inc., who wrongfully terminated the electrical power, forced them to use candles to see until the power issue could be addressed.  On April 27, 2005, the evening following the termination, a candle fell from a wall sconce, igniting the upholstered furniture made by Bassett Furniture Industries, which produced a quickly developing fire.  As Mrs. Graham exited the front door, the fire ventilated with fresh oxygen and Mr. Graham had to retreat to find alternative egress.  He unsuccessfully tried to operate the emergency egress window in his bedroom and was overcome by the smoke and toxic gases from the burning sofa, which had quickly filled rooms remote from the origin with dangerous combustion products.  Thankfully, Mr. Graham was rescued alive by firefighters but suffered burns over 17% of his body and serious pulmonary injuries from breathing the poisonous gases.  His medical bills total 1.13 million.  Graham claims the emergency egress windows were defective and that the smoke alarms installed by Fleetwood should have contained battery back-ups to allow operation during power outages.  The suit is styled Wallace Graham et al, v. Bassett Furniture Industries, Inc., Fleetwood Homes of Georgia, Inc., Progress Energy Carolinas, Inc. and Phillips Inc., Case number 4:05-CV-2895-TLW.