Alot of Fire Investigators and Electrical Engineers (some of whom even frequent this board) spent weeks at this fire scene in 2001.


Deere insurers win record verdict in warehouse fire lawsuit

By Ann McGlynn | Saturday, May 12, 2007


Two insurance companies providing coverage for Deere & Co. won a record $39.5 million verdict Friday in a case stemming from an enormous warehouse fire during 2001 at the former Caterpillar plant in Mount Joy, Iowa.

The month-long trial in Scott County District Court resulted in the largest monetary award in the history of Jackson, Clinton, Cedar, Scott and Muscatine counties, which compose the 7th Judicial District of Iowa, court officials said.

An eight-member jury decided in favor of Royal Indemnity and Federal Insurance and against FM Global, a loss-prevention engineering firm. The firm, plaintiffs’ attorney Jeff Asperger said, evaluated the massive warehouse for Deere in advance of the Moline-based company consolidating seven warehouses into the River Cities Industrial Center.

Ten weeks after Deere moved in $70 million worth of equipment, based on the recommendation from FM Global, the building “burned to the ground,” Asperger said.

The plaintiffs, he said, think the fire began when a high-intensity lamp exploded and dropped on the ground. It also is their belief that there was not adequate water to fight the fire because large storage tanks had been emptied for the winter.

However, he noted, no official cause or reason for water pressure problems was ever determined.

Steve Zenofsky, a spokesman for FM Global, said in a prepared statement that the company “is going to review the verdict and evaluate any next steps, as appropriate.”

Deere & Co. was not a plaintiff in the lawsuit. However, executives from the company did testify during the trial.

“We have no comment on the outcome of this case, and the company had previously received payment from its insurance company for the fire,” Deere spokesman Ken Golden said.

The first fire call came in about 7 a.m. Feb. 20, 2001.

Black smoke was visible from as far away as Geneseo, Ill., appearing on National Weather Service satellite images and reaching as high as 6,000 feet. Propane tanks on forklifts inside the building exploded as flames tore through the structure, collapsing the roof and southwest walls.

Firefighters from five area departments battled the blaze. Although no one was injured, several ambulances lined up nearby.

Flames still burned at midnight.

Davenport Fire Chief Mark Frese described the scene inside the building that day as “hell.”

“Everything around you and above you is burning like hell, and the smoke is so thick and black that you can’t see your own hand in front of your face,” said Frese, who added that the blaze was the largest Quad-City area fire in 25 years.

The blaze gutted about 80 percent of the 990,000-square-foot warehouse and its contents, he said at the time.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit had sought $45 million in restitution for “breach of contract,” Asperger said. They contended that an on-site inspection by FM Global failed to show there was a “lack of maintenance” and that the fire protection system had not worked adequately for years.

“Davenport Fire rolled up, and they were unable to get sufficient water,” he added.

The trial consisted of more than 40,000 pages of documents and testimony from two dozen people, Asperger said. In addition to Deere executives, witnesses included Davenport fire officials, executives from FM Global and a variety of experts from throughout the country.

More than a dozen attorneys tried the case on the third floor of the Scott County Courthouse in Davenport.

Asperger commended the jury for a “great job.”

“It was a very complex, at times, and long case,” he said

Ann McGlynn can be contacted at (563) 383-2336 or amcglynn@qctimes.com.