Weeks after Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said the city was not pursuing liens against the survivors of firefighters killed in the 2013 Southwest Inn fire, the families’ attorney says the city has refused to waive claims to $1.4 million it paid in benefits to the families.
Mayoral spokesman Alan Bernstein disputed that, reiterating Turner’s assertion that the city was not pursuing claims on the money, and said it had offered to waive its right to the money — provided all the money goes to the families of the fallen firefighters, not their lawyer.
“They want to be paid more legal fees for getting more money the city is not pursuing,” Bernstein said. Now, the families who had thought this fight was over find themselves once again caught between warring parties.