The man who nearly lost his life in a transformer explosion in Huntington Beach, California, filed a negligence lawsuit against the electrical company, Southern California Edison. Bernie Bischof, 60, instituted the action before the Los Angeles County Superior Court on Tuesday, June 16th.
Court documents disclosed that the explosion happened last fall during an Oktoberfest celebration on Saturday, October 5th. According to the lawsuit, Bischof, the owner of Old World German Restaurant, noticed an unusual smell and directed people off the patio. Moments later, the force of the explosion threw him from the entranceway.
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County firefighters said that the victim’s employees hurriedly covered him in a tablecloth as he lay on the ground covered in flames. Bischof sustained second and third-degree burns over nearly half of his body. He required multiple skin grafts to repair the damaged tissue from his head to the bottom of his legs.
The lawsuit stated that the man sustained significant brain damage and permanent cognitive deficits that will make it likely for him to have dementia later in life. The court documents allege that SCE, despite knowing the risks associated with underground transformers, including the risk of a catastrophic explosion, failed to properly maintain, inspect, repair, and replace the transformer vault.
The victim believes that the explosion was preventable if not for years of poor maintenance, cursory, and ineffective visual inspections and refusal to upgrade old equipment. Bischof accused SCE of placing profit above public safety, which is an act of negligence.
The victim’s relatives who suffered injuries from the explosion are also plaintiffs in the lawsuit. They are Marcus Bischof, the man’s son, Josef Bischof, his father, Cyndie Kasko, his sister, and Jason Kask, his brother-in-law.
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