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Pennsylvania Maintenance Worker Killed In Building Fire

Throughout our lifetimes, we see many buildings being constructed, sitting vacant and being rebuilt. Throughout these stages, people are hired to work on the buildings when they likely aren’t up to code or safe enough for the general public. However, it is still essential that the buildings are safe enough for the workers.

Unfortunately, though, workers are sometimes sent into out-of-use buildings that have major safety hazards that could lead to injury or even death. Such is the tragic story of a Pennsylvania maintenance worker who was killed this week while working in a vacant hotel when an electrical fire occurred.

The fire occurred in the Pittsburgh area at a closed-down Holiday Inn in Braddock Hills, Pennsylvania, Tuesday morning. The 36-year-old man who was killed had been part of a maintenance crew who had been called in to work on the vacant hotel, and was in the hotel’s mechanical room at the time of the fire.

The fire chief said that the flames erupted at about 11:20 a.m., and when firefighters arrived they found heavy smoke in the building’s garage area. The firefighters then found the 36-year-old worker in the mechanical room, but it was too late. The county medical examiner’s office said that the worker was pronounced dead at 12:20 p.m.

As far as the fire chief could tell, the fire was electrical in nature; however, the county fire marshal’s office is conducting an investigation that should determine the official cause.

Because the 36-year-old man was killed while performing his job duties, it is likely that his family could receive workers’ compensation to cover any financial liabilities relating to his death. Workers’ compensation is available to workers and their families regardless of who is at fault for the accident.

Or it is possible that the man’s family could bring a wrongful death lawsuit against his employer or the owner of the building if required safety precautions were ignored, negligently putting the workers at risk.

Usually, workers or their families cannot receive workers’ compensation payments and file a personal injury lawsuit against the employer. However, in some cases, a third party, or a company other than the employer, that is partly responsible for the accident can be sued in addition to receiving workers’ compensation. This is common in the construction industry.

Source: Pittsburg Post-Gazette, “Fire claims maintenance worker,” Sadie Gurman, 5/3/2011.