Deborah Jero’s lawsuit alleges the Tropical Breeze company has had 29 prior incidents, including crashes, injuries, and investigations.
A woman who was aboard the Tropical Breeze casino shuttle boat in Port Richey when it caught fire last month has decided to sue the boat operating company. Deborah Jero is suing for more than $15,000.
On Sunday, January 14, while transporting passengers to a casino cruise, a shuttle boat caught fire. The casino boat was located off Florida’s Gulf Coast a little outside Port Richey, near Tampa.
The flames quickly engulfed the shuttle boat, forcing the crew and 50 passengers off into the coasts very cold water.
In the aftermath, passengers praised the boat captain’s quick reaction. They also praised local residents for helping them stay warm, after a swim through cold waters. Hours after the boat fire, one of the passengers died after being rushed to the emergency room.
Tropical Breeze Boat Fire
The fire started just after 4pm. The quick-thinking captain was able to turn the boat back to shore, to avoid having the passengers have to survive a long period in the chilling waters.
The boat landed just outside of the residential neighborhood, Harborpointe Drive. Passengers then jumped off of the shuttle boat into the freezing gulf waters and swam to safety just as the boat succumbed to the flames behind them.
One woman, Carrie Dempsey, a 42-year old widowed mother of two, died later that evening from her injuries from the fiery event. 15 of the other passengers were taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for their injuries.
Deborah Jero Lawsuit
One holiday resident, Deborah Jero, 65, filed a lawsuit this week against Tropical Breeze on January 19 for more than $15,000. The lawsuit claims that the fire and resulted injuries that the passengers endured was due to the company’s negligence.
According to the lawsuit, Jero and the other passengers were forced to jump more than ten feet into the cold water that was less than three feet deep to avoid the flames rapidly growing behind them. Jero reportedly suffered “serious physical injuries from the forced jump from the Tropical Breeze fire engulfed vessel.”
Mrs. Jero also claimed to have suffered “serious mental anguish and trauma.”
Charges against Tropical Breeze
The lawsuit states several ways that the company was negligent. The first charge of alleged negligence stated that Tropical Breeze had a duty to its paying passengers to maintain its vessel in a reasonably safe manner under the circumstances, including keeping all of its “engines, tackle, appurtenances, wiring, machinery, systems, electronics and the vessel” in good repair.
The suit continues the company should have assured its boat would be free from “any conditions that would present a hazard or risk of injury, which the company knew or should have known existed in the exercise of reasonable care.”
Tropical Breeze’s second duty was to “warn its passengers of the dangerous conditions which the boating company knew or should have known in the exercise of reasonable caution.”
Tropical Breeze Failed Its Customers
Jaro’s lawyers claimed the company allowed “hazardous conditions” on its boat, despite having prior incidents with other boats in the Tropical Breeze fleet. The legal brief mentions a litany of incidents the company has had in the past.
According to Jaro’s lawsuit, the boat fire is not a new thing for the company to experience. They have a long history of issues with their boats. There have been at least 29 other investigations into the company and their boats.
Previous Incidents on Tropical Breeze Cruises
The Tropical Breeze company has seen five instances where one of their boats either crashed or ran aground, while it had another five incidents where there have either been a death or injury of passengers aboard their boat. Three times there were discharges into the water that were investigated.
The other 13 times the company has been investigated for mechanical or maintenance issues. Three of those investigations involved fires.
The lawyers concluded by saying, “As a direct and proximate result of [Tropical Breeze’s] negligence, Deborah Jero suffered physical injury, mental anguish, disability, loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life, loss of earnings, loss of ability to earn in the future, and medical expenses.”
