READING - A federal lawsuit against a hotel in Pennsylvania's Amish country says it effectively trapped guests on the second floor when a fire broke out, leading a woman to injure herself escaping with bed sheets tied together.
Amishview Inn and Suites, owned by Thomas E. Strauss, Inc., is facing a lawsuit filed March 7 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by Myra Matute and Andrew Fischer on behalf of themselves and their minor son.
The family had visited the hotel in Bird-in-Hand in Lancaster County in 2023 when a fire broke out in the middle of the night. The fire originated from a vending machine alcove located near their guestroom.
The emergency lighting system failed during the incident and there was no sprinkler system installed in the hotel, the suit complains.
In an attempt to escape, guests tied bed sheets together to climb down from second story windows. Myra Matute fell during this process, resulting in severe injuries that may leave her unable to walk again, she says.
The plaintiffs accuse the hotel of negligence per se, negligence and reckless disregard, negligent infliction of emotional distress and loss of consortium for causing and permitting a dangerous fire hazard to exist in violation of multiple fire and safety codes.
Kenneth Behrend of Behrend Law Group represents the plaintiffs.