Son sues after mom killed in fire

SOAP LAKE - After his mother was killed in an apartment fire in 2012, Shawn Kensinger filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the landlord, Slough Investment Company, LLC this week.

The lawsuit alleges the apartment that Susan Marie Wilson lived in did not have working smoke detectors or proper wall separations.

State law requires rental units to have at least a 30-minute fire-rating, giving potential fire victims time to leave before the fire spreads to their unit, according to the lawsuit.

The listed owner of the company, Leslie Slough, said that she turned the matter over to her insurance company and has no further comment.

In November 2012, a fire started in the apartment of Wilson's neighbor in Soap Lake and quickly spread to her apartment.

Neither unit had working smoke detectors, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges Slough was negligent and endangered the tenants' lives by renting apartments without installing smoke detectors complying with nationally accepted standards.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages to compensate for the "anxiety, emotional distress, pain and suffering and humiliation (Wilson) experienced in anticipation of death and for her death."

It also seeks compensation for "intangible losses including the loss of (Kensinger) mother's love, support, services, care, companionship and affection" as well as funeral expenses.