FORT SMITH -- The Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority is suing the U.S. government in federal court, saying that members of the Kentucky National Guard who were looking for ghosts caused a fire in 2011 that destroyed the World War II-era hospital complex.
The authority wants the government to pay $650,000 for the destruction of 111 buildings plus the cost of cleanup and remediation, according to its lawsuit filed Sept. 9. The suit said the buildings contained lead paint and asbestos that would have to be removed.
The Kentucky National Guard did not respond Friday to a request for comment.
Arkansas National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Keith Moore said Guard attorneys had no comment because they had not seen the court papers.
The authority claimed that the U.S. government was responsible for the actions of the Kentucky National Guard's 138th Fires Brigade, which was undergoing training at the Fort Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center, and the Arkansas National Guard, which operates the training center.
According to news reports at the time, members of the 138th sneaked onto the hospital complex grounds on the night of Aug. 3, 2011, looking for ghosts. A 2010 segment of Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel had aired featuring ghost hunters looking for evidence of hauntings in the hospital complex, and the soldiers checked it out.
Officials said one or more of the soldiers smoked cigarettes and tossed them into the tinder-dry weeds, which started a fire that destroyed the complex.
The lawsuit claims negligence against the government in that "these actions and activities were known and/or approved by Fort Chaffee, the Arkansas National Guard and the Kentucky National Guard supervising officers."
The hospital complex was in the Fort Smith Fire Department jurisdiction because Fort Smith had annexed the surplus Fort Chaffee land that was returned to civilian use in the 1990s through the Defense Department's Base Realignment and Closure Commission.
The fire burned all night. The department could not get in to fight the fire because the buildings were too close together and the water supply was inadequate.
The suit said the redevelopment authority submitted a claim Oct. 18, 2011, to the Army Claims Service for payment for the damage. The claim was denied on July 31, 2014.
The authority filed a request for reconsideration on Jan. 16 this year and it was denied March 16.
NW News on 09/19/2015