Ellison Bay Disaster Community Portal

By Nick Freimuth | Source: DoorCountyDailyNews.com

A settlement worth approximately $21 million from a civil lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Green Bay was settled in favor of the family of a Michigan couple killed in the Ellison Bay propane explosion nearly two years ago. The tragedy that took the lives of Patrick and Margaret Higdon on July 10, 2006 moved another step closer to finality with the Federal Court ruling.

According to Stuart Sklar of Fabian, Sklar & King in Farmington Hills, Michigan the plaintiffs in this case were the estates of Patrick and Margaret Higdon, their children James, Patrick and Meghan, Margret’s parents Margery and James Brooks, Margret’s brother Daniel and Cathy Brooks and Margret’s sister Kathy Brooks and Obie Burch. The Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, family was vacationing at the Cedar Grove Resort at the time. Sklar said putting this part of the ordeal behind them was a relief.

Sklar and Ralph Tease of Habush, Habush, and Rottier in Green Bay represented the family. Sklar said the co-council invested a great deal of time and effort in this case.

The family of Patrick and Margaret Higdon has been shown a great deal of respect from the Bloomfield Hills community, according to Sklar.

According to the Associated Press, propane lines for the expansion of the Cedar Grove Resort were installed in 1999. In March 2006, Cedar Grove Resort owners contacted PortSide Construction to upgrade electrical services to the resort docks. When PortSide visited the site in April, propane lines were not identified, nor did a subcontractor for Digger’s Hotline identify them. Two phone lines were identified, but not the buried gas lines.

Arby’s [sic] Construction, a subcontractor for Wisconsin Public Service Corp., dug trenches to install the electric lines July 7 and damaged the buried propane lines, which began leaking into the ground. The Door County district attorney found no evidence for criminal charges.

The Higdons’ suit named those businesses and eight insurance companies as defendants. U.S. District Judge William Griesbach issued his decision Monday.

By Emily Fredrix | Green Bay Press Gazette

The three children who watched their Door County vacation cabin burn, knowing their parents were inside and unable to get out, will receive a settlement worth more than $21 million, according to court documents.

The 16-year-old twin boys and 14-year-old daughter of Patrick and Margaret Higdon and adult relatives filed a suit in U.S. District Court in Green Bay claiming negligence caused propane explosions in Ellison Bay in 2006.

The lawsuit names Cedar Grove Resort, some construction companies, a utility and their insurance companies as defendants.

The adult relatives, including Margaret Higdon’s parents and siblings, who were vacationing with the family, have reached a settlement. But that hasn’t been made public.

The family is relieved to have the case settled, said Ralph J. Tease Jr., an attorney with Habush, Habush & Rottier in Green Bay.

The $21 million settlement reached May 6 will be split among the three children — Megan, Patrick and James — and go into trust funds for them.

The couple from Bloomfield Hills, Mich., died early July 10, 2006, while vacationing in a cottage with their children and other family members about 200 miles north of Milwaukee. Twelve other people were injured.

“This family was extremely close, and always looked forward to this family vacation,” court documents said. “On the evening of the explosion, the family had enjoyed their usual routine which consisted of a family meal at a local restaurant followed by family time spent in the rental units talking, playing cards and other activities.”

They were asleep when several explosions rocked the resort about 2:15 a.m., court filings said. Margaret Higdon’s parents James and Margery Brooks and the Higdon’s three children escaped. But Patrick, 49, and his 45-year-old wife were trapped, and Margaret’s voice could be heard calling for help, the documents said.

Megan Higdon, then 12, remained at the scene for 45 minutes after the explosion, in a panic, documents said.

“During that entire time, Megan was forced to watch as the fire consumed the building in which she knew her parents were trapped,” they said.

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