BELLEVILLE – A fatal trailer fire that killed two men has led to a lawsuit accusing the owners of the property of causing wrongful death.
James Bell, 67, and Michael Hangsleben, 55, died inside a mobile home in early February 2018 when a fire ripped through the mobile home on North 41st Street in Belleville.
Breanna Reno, the administrator of Hangsleben's estate, is accusing the owners of the property of failing to install operating smoke detectors, not properly heating the home and generally allowing it to be in a dangerous condition.
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The lawsuit, filed Jan. 7 in St. Clair County Circuit Court, names defendants Janet and John Schmitt, individually and as administrators of the estate of Mack Schmitt, and Mary Williams. According to the lawsuit, the owners and managers of the property face accusations that they violated Illinois law and Belleville ordinances. The plaintiff filed suit as a survivor and under the state's wrongful death statute.
The plaintiff alleges the defendants did not supply or install smoke detectors in operating conditions and allowed the unit to become injurious to the health or dangerous to the lives of the occupants. Further, they allegedly failed to heat the mobile home to a room temperature of 68 degrees between October and April in violation of the St. Clair County property maintenance code.
“An undetected fire broke out in said dwelling unit directly and proximately causing Michael N. Hangsleben to be burned in said fire and causing him severe physical, mental, and emotional pain and suffering prior to his death,” the lawsuit states.
The plaintiff, who is seeking more than $50,000 in damages, is represented by Kevin Boyne of Belleville and Jason B. Going of the Law Office of Jason B. Going in Belleville.
The Record was unable to contact the defendants prior to publication.
St. Clair County Circuit Court case number 2020-L-19