Last year on August 14, 2017, the home of Jeanne Jasa exploded, claiming her life. Now, her children have decided to file a tort claim against the city of “Lincoln, Lancaster County, and natural gas provider Black Hills Energy” for negligently causing the death of their mother. The home explosion is still under investigation and Lincoln police have not ruled out foul play. According to Police Chief Jeff Bliemeister, “his investigators need more time to follow up leads in the case.”
Last year on August 14, 2017, the home of Jeanne Jasa exploded, claiming her life. Now, her children have decided to file a tort claim against the city of “Lincoln, Lancaster County, and natural gas provider Black Hills Energy” for negligence, claiming they caused the death of their mother. The home explosion is still under investigation and Lincoln police have not ruled out foul play. According to Police Chief Jeff Bliemeister, “his investigators need more time to follow up leads in the case.”
What happened, though? How did Jasa die? Well, according to the suit, Jasa died back on August 29, 2017, from burns and other injuries she sustained in the explosion. Her husband, Jimmy Jasa, “died from his injuries in hospice care May 2.” The explosion itself occurred at the couple’s home on 5601 S. 78th St. and was so large that 33 other homes sustained damage. To this day, police and firefighters are still investigating the cause behind the fiery accident. However, shortly after the deadly blast, investigators “ruled out an external gas leak as the cause, and police concluded natural gas provider Black Hills Energy wasn’t responsible.”
However, Jasa’s son and daughter, Amy Roche and Matt Jasa, along with their attorney, are pointing the finger of blame at the city, county, and utility company in a tort claim and are seeking more than $4 million. The claim itself was filed just before the anniversary of their mother’s death and will preserve “the family’s ability to file a civil lawsuit.”
According to the family’s seven-page complaint, “Black Hills infrastructure and its safety and warning devices failed to regulate the natural gas in the home and allowed the house to fill with gas.” Because of that, the family’s attorney, Brian Jorde, said, “But for the negligent acts of Black Hills, Jeanne would be alive today.”
At the moment, the utility company has declined to comment on the matter. However, Assistant City Attorney Elizabeth Elliott spoke up saying she will not make a formal decision regarding the claim until she has all the information in front of her. She said she “believes she may have the information she needs in a couple of weeks to make a recommendation to the City Council, which would decide whether to pay or deny the claim.”
If a decision still hasn’t been made after six months, the family will then be allowed to file a civil lawsuit. Jorde said that while Jasa’s family is unsure whether they will venture down the lawsuit route, they aren’t discarding the possibility. He said that particular decision will be made “once the family has been able to review the available evidence, which is limited in part because a lot of evidence was destroyed in the fire.”
As for whether the family believes the fire was an accident or not, Jorde said the “absence of criminal charges against anyone in the case leads us to believe the city and county do not believe this explosion was anything other than a terrible accident that never should have occurred.” As a result, the family is seeking at least “$2 million in damages for Jeanne Jasa’s pain and suffering, at least $2 million for her wrongful death and at least $75,000 for her medical bills.”
Sources:
Children of woman killed in Lincoln house explosion accuse city, utility of negligence in blast
Join the conversation!