After getting injured during a fire, a Los Angeles Fire Department captain has sued the owners of a building and the owners of two vaping supply shops after a May 2020 explosion that left him with so-called catastrophic injuries.
LOS ANGELES — Firefighter Victor Aguirre and his wife, Claudia, filed a lawsuit recently against the owner of a building, Steve Sungho Lee, and the owners of two vape and smoke shops, Green Buddha and Smoke Tokes, housed in the building.
The building in question was the scene of an explosive fire that resulted in an injury sustained by Aguirre.
He and his wife accuse the owners of “hazardous activity” that premises “liability and negligence.” At least, that is according to reports on the lawsuit by The Los Angeles Times and The Hill.
The lawsuit was filed in the Los Angeles County Superior Court against the owners. The facility in question was a warehouse found on a block in East 3rd Street in LA. Twelve firefighters were injured were harmed with an injury. After a criminal investigation, law enforcement authorities in Los Angeles held those being sued by Aguirre criminally liable for at least 300 criminal counts.
The criminal cases resulted in plea deals with state and federal prosecutors that order the businesses to pay the city government more than $100,000. Video and still images, additionally, show an engulfed Aguirre in flames during the incident in question.
Aguirre, according to the reports, is a 20-year veteran of the Los Angeles Fire Department. Reportedly, he suffered from injures in the explosion, including severe burns over much of his body and what is referred to as devastating third-degree burns.
Those burns resulted in some of his fingers needing partial amputations and, since, has forced Aguirre to undergo 25 surgeries. He was hospitalized for two months.
He is no longer an active-duty firefighter but is still in the employment of the Los Angeles Fire Department in what media reports indicate is an administrative capacity.
