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According to Martha Ridings, Blount County workers accidentally caused her home and business to burn to the ground last year. But because of a state cap on property damage claims against local governments, representatives from the county say she can only be paid $100,000 for her losses.

According to Ridings, a Blount County Highway Department truck caused the fire five months ago when it accidentally hit a power line while dumping a load of brush behind her home. The county has not disputed Ridings’ version of events, which are also detailed in a police report dated Sept. 6, 2007 — the day the fire occurred.
“There were two highway department dump trucks, one yellow one and one green one,” Ridings said. “They asked if they could dump behind my house because I’d let them do it before, and I told them that they could.

“I went back inside and was watching the news when my power flickered out for a few seconds. I went to the porch to see what happened but the power came back on, so I went back inside.

“When the second truck started to pull back out, I could see that it had stopped and the driver had opened his door and was standing on the running board looking toward the shop next door to my house. He looked really worried.

‘It was an accident’

“Then a county flag man came up to the house and told me there was smoke coming from the shop — I could see the smoke coming out everywhere.

“I know it was an accident, and I don’t want anyone to get in trouble or lose their job over this. I’m not saying anything bad about anyone.

“I tried to call 9-1-1, but my phones were out by then — so the flag man called out on the radio from his truck.

“By that time, flames were leaping through the roof of the shop and the wind was blowing it toward the house.”

Ridings said that after the fire spread to her home, she realized her 2-year-old cat, MoJo, was still inside. Against the wishes of firefighters, she ran back into the burning house.

“I wasn’t going to let the cat die in that fire,” Ridings said. “By then, you couldn’t see the house from 50 feet away because the smoke was so thick.

“Just as I started running to the house, the Lord lifted that smoke up and I could see right up to the house. The cat was just inside in the dining room, so I picked him up and started back out — but the smoke had filled in again behind me and I couldn’t see where to go.

“As I was heading out, the Lord lifted the smoke again and I walked right through the door and out to the road.”

According to Ridings, who carried no insurance on the property, the fire started a few minutes after noon and firefighters were on the scene until after 5:30 p.m. When the fire was out, Ridings’ business — which manufactured wooden handles — and her home were destroyed.

For more than 30 years, Ridings lived in the home at 749 Blair Loop Road in Walland. She raised her three children and five foster children there. She ran a successful business next door to her home for nearly 15 years, and her mother still lives in the hollow behind her.

Ridings has a spectacular view of Chilhowee Mountain, which, from her side yard, looks close enough to reach out and touch. From the 10- by 18-foot trailer she now lives in, she can clearly see the ridgeline where the Three Sisters developers plan to build multi-million dollar estates. Next to her trailer sits the burned out remains of her home and business.

The inside of a home that has burned is surprisingly dark, even in the middle of the day. Ridings’ floor is black, the walls are black, the ceilings are black, the furniture and household items are black and the windows — the ones that didn’t shatter from the heat — are covered with thick black soot. The only clean surfaces are the spots where pictures used to hang on the walls, and the white outlines where magnets clung to the now jet-black refrigerator.

The county offered Ridings a settlement of $120,000, in writing, in October. Ridings then got her own appraisal from Tennessee Valley Appraisal Services showing the property was valued at $230,836.12.

In November, Ridings said the county came back to her with another settlement proposal of $157,100, and said it was their “final offer.”

In January, Ridings was notified that due to the Tennessee Governmental Tort Liability Act, which caps property damage claims at $100,000, she would only receive $100,000 from the county for her home.

Don Stallions, who heads the Risk Management Department for Blount County, said the Tennessee Governmental Tort Liability Act protects the government from being sued out of existence.

“The government used to be immune from law suits,” Stallions said. “People need to realize that the government isn’t like a business. When you sue a business, you get money that was generated as profit by an income-producing company. When you sue the government, it’s the people’s money you’re dealing with.

“The Tort Liability Act allows counties in Tennessee to do business. Without it, our counties wouldn’t be able to function.”

Stallions said Blount County has had numerous property damage claims in the past, but none that he can recall involving a claim on an entire home.

“We haven’t had anything to this extent before,” Stallions said. “Most of the property damage claims we deal with involve auto accidents and vehicle claims.”

Although no lawsuits have been filed, Stallions said the county’s attorneys advised him not to discuss Ridings’ situation. Stallions also said he was advised by attorneys not to discuss the two prior offers made to Ridings that exceeded the $100,000 cap.
Tennessee’s statute regarding governmental liability is detailed in the Tennessee Code under Section 29-20-403. The statute limits property damage claims against the government to $100,000 and bodily injury or death claims against the government to $300,000.

Tennessee Code Section 29-20-311 says no judgement or award may exceed the limits unless the government entity expressly waives the limit in its contract of insurance — which Blount County has not done.

Liability limits for government entities differ greatly by state, with states at the lower end, like Tennessee, capped at $100,000 and other states capped at $500,000 and more.

Until recently, Ridings did not have an attorney, but she has now retained Costner & Greene of Maryville.

“I didn’t hire an attorney for a long time because the people from the county kept telling me that they were going to take care of me,” Ridings said. “They told me they would do the right thing and make it right, but I’ve been living in a little trailer with no hot water for five months now.

“It’s just a shame. We elect these people because they tell us how they’re going to take care of the citizens of Blount County.

“Once they get into office, the only thing they want to take care of and protect is the government — not the people who elected them.

“I may not be able to do anything to change my own situation, but maybe because I’m telling what happened to me, something will change and this won’t happen to anyone else.”