FORT SMITH — The Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority is suing the United States in federal court, saying members of the Kentucky National Guard caused a fire in 2011 that destroyed the World War II-era hospital complex.
The authority wants the government to pay $650,000 for the destruction of 111 buildings plus the cost of cleanup and remediation, according to its lawsuit filed Sept. 9. The suit said the buildings contained lead paint and asbestos that would have to be removed.
The Kentucky National Guard didn’t respond Friday to a request for comment.
Lt. Col. Keith Moore, Arkansas National Guard public affairs officer, said guard attorneys had no comment because they hadn’t seen the court papers.
The authority claimed the U.S. government was responsible for the actions of the Kentucky National Guard’s 138th Fires Brigade, which was training at the Fort Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center, and the Arkansas National Guard, which operates the training center.
According to news reports at the time, members of the 138th sneaked onto the hospital complex grounds on the night of Aug. 3, 2011, looking for ghosts. A 2010 segment of Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel had aired featured ghost hunters looking for evidence of hauntings in the hospital complex and the guard members went to check the area themselves.
Off icials said one or more of the guard members smoked cigarettes and tossed them into the tinder-dry weeds, which started a fire that destroyed the complex.
The lawsuit charges negligence against the government in that “these actions and activities were known and/or approved by Fort Chaffee, the Arkansas National Guard and the Kentucky National Guard supervising officers.
The hospital complex was in the Fort Smith Fire Department jurisdiction since Fort Smith annexed the surplus Fort Chaffee land returned to civilian use in the 1990s through the U.S. Defense Department’s Base Realignment and Closure Commission.
The fire burned all night. The department couldn’t get in to fight the fire because the buildings were too close together and there was an inadequate water supply.
The suit said the redevelopment authority submitted a claim for payment for damage to the Army Claims Service on Oct. 18, 2011. The claim was denied on July 31, 2014.
The authority filed a request for reconsideration on Jan. 16, 2015, and it was denied March 16.