(RIGHT:  ARBITRATOR PRATT)

See this article from the Fresno Bee -- $29 million awarded in fatal Kings Co. apartment fire --Couple and 3 children died as relatives watched the inferno (excerpts below). 

In one of the largest wrongful death judgments in Kings County history, relatives of a young couple and three children who died in a devastating apartment fire won $29 million Tuesday.

Derik Faubion and his fiancée, Michell Mattison, both 19, perished in the fire at the Northgate Apartments along with their 2-month-old daughter, Hayden Allison Faubion. Two siblings of Mattison -- Lexus May Bisnar, 4, and her brother Ariel Nel Bisnar, 2 -- also died.

Retired Judge Daniel Pratt, acting as an arbitrator in the case, ruled Lemoore Real Estate and Property Management was negligent in maintenance of the 23-unit apartment complex at 226 E. Hazelwood Drive.

A key piece of evidence was a letter from the property management firm to tenants that stated "smoke detectors are not in place in most units." The letter was written six months before the fatal fire, court records show. . . .

Both sides agreed to let Kings County Superior Court Judge Thomas DeSantos assign the case to an arbitrator to avoid a jury trial. DeSantos chose Pratt, a retired judge in Southern California.

Pratt ruled in favor of the plaintiffs after hearing one day of testimony from Lemoore residents, firefighters and investigators. Pratt also viewed photographs of the plaintiffs who cried as they stood helpless outside the burning units. . . . 

"This is one of the saddest cases I have ever seen," said Marderosian, who has been practicing law since 1977. "It not only shocked the city, but wiped out the next generation of two families."

Hat Tip to Lawyers USA.