Staten Island, NY – all things that should be worried about as a homeowner is a sofa that bursts on fire, usually none of them.
If you are not Walter Matuza and Zoe Hartman from Grant City, who say that they were driven out of their condominium and was emotionally drawn after the purchase of a faulty furniture that was set by a national retailer.
In an ongoing lawsuit before the Federal Court in Brooklyn, the couple's house was destroyed in 2023 when the LED lighting that the sofa had bought was caught.
In this photo of August 4, 2023, FDNY units react to a fire on the seventh floor of the Lincoln Avenue building in Grant City.
The sofa set was ordered by Ashley Furnure, which is referred to as the accused in the lawsuit. A happy smart facility is also mentioned as a defendant in China.
The lawyers listed for Ashley Furnure did not respond to a request for comments. Lawyers for the other companies were not listed in court documents from Friday.
“It was beautiful”
In a recent interview with the Advance/Silive.com, Matuza remembered the day when the sofa set was delivered to his house.
“It was beautiful,” he said. “My living room was like a cinema.”
The black sofa was equipped with blue, LED lighting and an automatic pushup. “It was very chic, very comfortable,” he said.
But the party didn't stop.
In September 2022, the lights and LED lights no longer worked.
About four months later, repair men made a house call with a furniture company, according to the complaint.
Then, about a year later, a fire broke out within the condominium. After an FDNY examination, it was found after the lawsuit that the fire was caused by the lighting in the sofa.
Part of the damage on August 4, 2023 in Matuza's Grant City Condominium can be seen here.(With the kind permission of Madeline Quinn)
“Our place was destroyed”
On the day of the fire, Matuza had just put on work on the New York election board in Manhattan when he received a call from Hartman. “She screamed and cried and said our house is on fire.”
Hartman, he said, was in the condominium of the condominium when the sofa caught fire. Both you and Matuza are visually impaired, he said.
“She heard the smoke detector and felt the heat on her back of her hand when she went out,” said Matuza. “She saw blurry, black and red; and she freaked out.”
Hartman, who works for a casting company and focuses on helping actors with disabilities, fled out of the apartment. Barefoot, who was wearing an old tank top and pajama shorts, she couldn't pick up anything from home when the FDNY units answered.
“I came home and our place was destroyed,” said Matuza.
At least one other apartment has now suffered water damage when firefighters had put down the flames, he said.
The property has carried out repairs since then and the couple was able to return home, said Matuza.
Alleged financial, emotional toll
The couple moved into Matuza's mother for months after the fire and had to bring their wedding plans to the queue.
The insurance covered some of the lost articles, but not everything.
“I tried to find out what receipts I have and for some things I paid cash for,” said Matuza, who as a standup comic moonlight.
There were also possessions of sentimental value that was lost in the flames, including a putter that belonged to his late father, who worked in the World Trade Center and died in the attacks of September 11th.
“It was something I wanted to hold on,” said Matuza. “I felt like a piece of him with me.”
According to the law, the insurance could also replace the emotional damage of the incident.
“Every time Zoe hears siren, she gets nervous,” said Matuza. “She doesn't want to cook unless I'm at home … she got out within seconds after her life.”
The complaint claimed that the manufacturer and retailer should be held responsible for the catastrophe.
Passion, claims for complaints
In June 2023, a call back for the “Party Time Collection Loveseats, Sofas and Liege” was issued, according to a message published online by the US consumer product commission.
“The Power Loveats, Sofas and Lies holder with LED lighting can overheat and a fire hazard,” says the announcement.
Around 253,000 of the furniture sets, which were sold for 900 and 1,800 US dollars, were sold in the USA at this time, in addition to more than 9,000 in Canada.
In June 2023, a call back for the “Party Time Collection Loveseats, Sofas and Liege” was issued, according to a message published online by the US consumer product commission.(With the kind permission of CPSC)
“The company knows six reports of the cup eggs with overheating of LED lighting, which leads to fire and smoke damage and damaged furniture,” said the recall.
It asked the customers to “pull off the sofa immediately” and Ashley Furnure Industries, LLC to call repairs. Or see Ashleyfurniture.com and click on the “Product recall” link to get more information.
Matuza said that unfortunately he found out about the call back just a few weeks after the fire in the post.