A lawsuit filed Monday by the daughter of a man that died in the November 2016 wildfires that ripped through Sevier County alleges negligence by the city of Gatlinburg and Sevier County.
Gatlinburg Reverend Dr. Ed Taylor, 85, was found dead several days after the wildfire spread through parts of Sevier County on Nov. 28, 2016. His son, Eddie Taylor, said Gatlinburg police found his body near his home. They believe he died from smoke inhalation.
The lawsuit filed in Sevier County Circuit Court on Nov. 27, 2017 states Taylor was in good health when he died. His daughter filed the suit for the mental and physical suffering of her father's medical, funeral, and other necessary expenses. It also seeks compensation for property damage suffered and all other damages for wrongful death as well as damages to personal injuries and property damage that occurred before he died.
Taylor was among 14 people killed in the wildfire.
According to his family, he presided over 70,000 weddings in Gatlinburg and pioneered the wedding industry in Gatlinburg starting in 1978.
According to the lawsuit, Taylor reportedly called the Gatlinburg Fire Department at some point in the afternoon or early evening of Monday, Nov. 28, 2016. The suit states "based upon information and belief, someone working there informed them that the fire posed no risk to him and that there was no need to evacuate."
Later Monday night or early Tuesday morning, the fire spread to his property and destroyed his home and most of his personal property, the lawsuit states. Due to the widespread loss of electrical power, phone lines, cell phone service, and internet connections as a result of the fires, police, firefighters, and mass transit personnel finally resorted to going door-to-door in order to evacuate citizens.
The lawsuit states that "as a result of these acts or omissions, they weren't warned or notified that he needed to evacuate his residence."
Taylor's family alleges negligence because the fire department had a duty to use reasonable care to monitor the weather and wildfire, and to warn their citizens, residents, and/or visitors of the emergency conditions created by the wildfire.
His family has sued for a fair and reasonable amount of compensatory damages. That amount would be decided at trial but it should not exceed $2 million.
The attorneys for the family are Dan C. Stanley with Stanley & Kurtz, PLLC and F. Clinton Little and Eric B. Foust with the Law Offices of Eric B. Foust.
There were eight other lawsuits filed in Sevier County by insurance companies against Sevier County Electric System and the City of Sevierville claiming a contracting company called Wolf Tree and SCES should have trimmed or removed trees that eventually led to the Cobbly Nob Fire and a fire on Little Cove Road.
The lawsuits claim three dead trees are to blame for these fires which destroyed dozens of homes in the Cobbly Nob area and dozens near Little Cove Road.
The documents say the disease and decay on the trees was visible and the trees should have been removed before Nov. 28.
In all, the fires destroyed more than 2,400 buildings and took 14 lives.