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Cooking squirrel with blowtorch to cost tenant $2M

A woman whose boyfriend sparked a 2012 apartment fire using a blowtorch on a squirrel is on the hook for $2 million in damages to the Holland Township complex, the Court of Appeals ruled.

<div> Firefighters battle a blaze at the ClearView Apartments in Holland, Mich., Oct. 10, 2012.(Photo: WZZM-TV)</div> <div>  </div>

HOLLAND, Mich. — A woman whose boyfriend sparked a 2012 apartment fire using a blowtorch on a squirrel is on the hook for $2 million in damages to the Holland Township complex, the Court of Appeals ruled.

Wednesday’s ruling reverses a lower court decision that held Barbara Pellow responsible for only $15,400 in damages caused by the Oct. 10 blaze that consumed 32 units at ClearView Apartments.

The woman’s boyfriend, Khek Chanthalavong, had been using a blowtorch to remove fur from the squirrel on a wooden deck. Owners of the complex claimed cooking a squirrel on the deck violated her rental agreement.

Even though her boyfriend caused the fire, Pellow is still liable under a lease agreement for what justices described as a "fur-burning escapade."

“Because defendant signed the lease agreement, she is presumed to have read and understood its contents," the three-judge panel wrote.

Dozens of people at ClearView Apartments in Holland Township lost everything in the fire. Insurance carrier Travelers Indemnity Co. paid out more than $2 million to repair the damage.

The boyfriend left the torch on the deck and went into the apartment. When he returned 15 minutes later, he discovered the fire.

“His attempts to extinguish the fire proved unsuccessful," justices noted in the unpublished decision released Wednesday.

The lease agreement held Pellow responsible for fire damage caused by negligent or intentional activity. Pellow argued that she was not liable for damages under the Michigan Truth in Renting Act and the Michigan Consumer Protection Act.

The Court of Appeals says it is a breach-of-contract lawsuit. Her contention that provisions of the lease agreement “were never explained to her’’ don’t hold water. The law does not require that the landlord “read and explain" the lease agreement she signed, justices wrote.

Its five-page decision directs the Ottawa County Circuit Court judge who handled the case to rule in the insurance company’s favor and “determine the appropriate amount of damages’’ owed, which the insurance company said tops $2 million.

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