Nashville residents will likely remember the massive fire—one year ago today—that destroyed the downtown library’s parking garage, totaled dozens of vehicles, and left the library closed for months.
Travelers Excess & Surplus Lines, which had provided a multimillion-dollar policy for the Nashville metro area government, now believes the 6th Avenue fire was the result of improper storage of combustible materials in an unauthorized, flammable storage shed—not to mention smoking by nearby workers—caused the massive blaze.
Travelers, which paid the policy limits after the fire, last week filed a $10 million subrogation lawsuit against a non-profit organization that manages downtown business districts and parking garages, along with a for-profit firm that had used space in the garage for its cleaning and security services in the area.
The Nashville Downtown Partnership organization breached its duties to the city, was negligent, and broke its contract with the city by allowing the cleaning firm to build the shed and store combustible materials there, all without authorization from authorities, the June 4 complaint alleges…