The year 2006 found the Texas High Plains in a severe drought.  On March 12, 2006, a negligently constructed and maintained electrical distribution system belonging to an oil production company sparked what became the largest wildfire in recorded Texas history.  Fed by strong winds, this Wildfire covered approximately 480,000 acres in five counties.  It destroyed numerous structures and vehicles, thousands of miles of fences, pasture, trees, wildlife and its habitat.  This Wildfire consumed thousands of head of livestock and, most importantly, killed seven people, including Kathy Ryan, who died as a hero trying to rescue her elderly neighbors when the Wildfire overran the home of Bill and Oleta Pfeffer at the Borger Greenhouses.

A total of twelve lawsuits were brought by persons and companies with losses caused by this Wildfire.  Attorneys at Lovell, Lovell, Newsom & Isern, L.L.P. were honored to represent, in six of those suits, clients whose lives and property were lost in the conflagration – large landowners, a cattleman with a small operation, a unique horse-care company, and the children and estates of Kathy Ryan and Bill and Oleta Pfeffer. All but one of the twelve Wildfire lawsuits were transferred into Multi-District Litigation for pre-trial proceedings.

The electrical distribution line responsible for the huge blaze was negligently designed and constructed, resulting in a grounded guy wire only inches from an uninsulated support cable (a “messenger wire” that is never supposed to be energized) swinging in the wind carrying 480 volts.  The result was obvious – electrical arcing throwing off sparks and particles of molten metal.  The defendants failed to properly inspect and maintain their electrical lines, even in spite of numerous blown fuses at the nearest switchbox.