LAKEWOOD, Wash. — Residents of a Lakewood mobile home park where a fire broke out last year, killing two men, have filed a lawsuit against the owner of the property where the fire originated.
In August 2023, a fast-moving brush fire destroyed nine homes and killed two men at the Jamestown Mobile Home Park. The fire killed 31-year-old Zachary McDonough and 70-year-old Patrick Zmiarovich, whom McDonough tried to rescue. The fire displaced 23 people and nine children.
Seven people have joined a lawsuit against the property owner, VGU Washington Estates, LLC, where the fire started and are seeking damages.
The lawsuit said the cause of the fire was determined to be caused by a firepit on a nearby property, which then spread to the mobile home park.
The lawsuit alleges the owner allowed debris to pile up on the property as early as September 2021 and that the owners made no efforts to clear brush and let vegetation grow beyond the legal limit.
The lawsuit said a separate fire had started on the property the month before the deadly brush fire, which required the Lakewood Fire Department to respond to extinguish it.
The lawsuit was filed in Pierce County Superior Court on April 9. The total amount of damages will be determined during the court proceedings.
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