Sofa Super Store fire settlement reached

CHARLESTON - The families of the Charleston 9, the nine firefighters killed fighting a blaze at the Sofa Super Store in 2007, reached a settlement with the remaining defendants in the wrongful death lawsuit Friday.

Sofa Super Store, Inc.; Goldstein Family Limited Partnership; Herbert A. Goldstein, LLC and Furniture Retailers of Charleston, Inc., will pay a total of $1,882,400 to the families to settle the case, according to court documents.

“My children and I, as well as the other Charleston 9 families, have suffered such an immense loss that no other family should ever have to endure. My hope is that we not only continue to honor the memory of the Charleston 9, but also call attention to the negligence and failures that led to the tragedy,” said Heather Baity in a press release from the Motley Rice law firm. Baity is the widow of fallen firefighter Brad Baity

Motley Rice, Knight Law Firm, O’Neill & Phipps, The Richter Firm, The Solomon Law Group, and Woodley & McGillivary served as cocounsels for the families.