CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Less than 24 hours after a fire at the Peoples Cartage warehouse in Wood County was declared out, the first lawsuit has been filed.
Charleston attorneys Jesse Forbes and Dante DiTrapano along with others have filed the suit which is proposed for class action status in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of West Virginia.
“Unfortunately and sadly on July 4th weekend we have this devastating incident happen in this community. It affected a widespread area and you’ve got people who are scared. They’re afraid of the air they are breathing, they’re afraid of the affect it had on their kids, on their parents, and on elderly folks,” said Forbes in an appearance on MetroNews Midday.
The lawsuit alleges the defendants’ negligence caused the release of smoke, ash, soot, and other airborne contaminants which impacted surrounding neighborhoods.
Forbes said residents were forced into a multi-day emergency shelter-in-place order. According to the complaint, the warehouse first caught fire on July 4 and the blaze was initially thought to be under control. The lawsuit alleges after the facility’s fire suppression system was shut down and before it had been restored, employees began opening fire-damaged containers of combustible material, causing the fire to reignite and rapidly engulf the warehouse in flames, without proper water suppression sprinklers or other safety measures in place. The sprawling fire sent massive plumes of thick black smoke across the Parkersburg area and forced residents to take shelter in their homes. The smoke was visible for miles.
“Our state has a history of out-of-state corporations coming in, having safety issues, and resulting in tragedy. Luckily here nobody was initially seriously injured apparently from what happened,” Forbes said.
The complaint further alleges operators of the warehouse had prior notice of recurring fire hazards, chemical incidents, regulatory violations, and fire safety deficiencies at this and other West Virginia operations under common ownership and centralized safety management, yet failed to adequately assess and address similar risks before the July 2026 fire and failed to have proper safety protocols in place at the Camden Avenue facility.
Gov. Patrick Morrisey was asked about the history of safety issues which were addressed by state regulators during a Wednesday appearance in Williamstown.
“We’ve indicated there was a compliance action by DEP and we take that seriously. But by all accounts, they followed up on that order and came into compliance and that was a separate building and not directly tied to the fire,” said Morrisey.
Morrisey visited the fire scene Sunday and declared a state of emergency in Wood County to free up additional state assets and funds to help with the fire fighting effort. Morrisey was reluctant to say much more at this point.
“I’m not going to comment until the investigation is complete, so I’m not going to engage in speculation. Obviously, you’re always going to have a lawyer or two try to get out in front and make their mark and file a suit,” Morrisey said.
Forbes said such criticism of attorneys filing such suits so soon in an incident is typical, but added there is a reason for it.
“We can’t start preserving evidence, we can’t get our experts on the ground, and we can’t investigate what happened for these folks until this is filed. By doing that, it allows us to get out on the civil justice side of things and make sure all evidence is preserved and we know what happened and hopefully get answers for these people,” he said.
The suit is filed on behalf of James Leonard Anthony and Doris Jean Anthony, but could be converted to class action status once assigned to a judge. The class action status would create parameters for class of individuals who would be qualified to receive compensation for the incident if the courts ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in the case. Peoples Cartage and Total Distribution, Incorporated are identified as defendants in the action.