Crime & Safety
Woman Who Claimed Home Was Destroyed By LAFD's Negligence Settles With City
A Hollywood woman claimed her home was "engulfed in a torrent of water" thanks to the Los Angeles Fire Department's negligence.
LOS ANGELES, CA — A Hollywood woman has formally sought dismissal of a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles in which she alleged an LAFD truck damaged a leaking water main in 2023, resulting in a geyser that destroyed the roof of her home and damaged or destroyed everything inside.
Attorneys for plaintiff Janneke Dommisse filed court papers on Wednesday with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa R. Jaskol asking that her suit alleging negligence, inverse condemnation and dangerous condition on public property be city be dismissed. Dommisse and the city reached a settlement April 2. No terms were divulged.
In their previous court papers, lawyers for the City Attorney's Office denied Dommisse's allegations and cited multiple defenses, including assumption of the risk and that her damages were attributable to the negligence of third parties.
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According to the suit, about 8 p.m. Feb. 2, 2023, Dommisse saw a large amount of water bubbling up through the asphalt and pooling in the street in front of her Fountain Avenue home and believes it was due to a defective and neglected eight-inch city water main, the suit stated. She called the city about 45 minutes later to report the leak, the suit stated.
After another 20 minutes, a city fire truck parked across the street from Dommisse's and the ground beneath its rear wheels sunk, the suit stated. While accelerating out of the hole, the truck caused the water main to fully fail, sending out large amounts of water and forcing Dommisse to run inside her home, the suit further stated.
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However, the plaintiff's house was "engulfed in a torrent of water" in which drips from the ceilings turned to streams and rivers, prompting Dommisse to call for help, the suit stated.
Firefighters, finding Dommisse hiding in a rear room with her dog, grabbed both and dragged them out of the home just as its roof collapsed from the large amount of water that severely damaged or destroyed everything inside, the suit stated.
As of the filing of her lawsuit in September 2023, Dommisse, now 49, had been unable to return to her home and she has suffered severe emotional distress, according to her complaint.
City News Service
