CAMDEN, Ark. (Legal Newsline) - Arkansas residents who say their house was damaged by a massive explosion of a tractor-trailer carrying chemicals have filed a lawsuit against two companies and the late driver.
Randall McDougal was hauling ammonium nitrate from El Dorado to Texarkana in March 2019 for El Dorado Chemical Company and his employer, Blann Transportation, the lawsuit filed March 28 in Ouchita County Circuit Court says.
McDougal stopped in the early morning of March 27, 2019, to report a tire fire. About a half-hour later, the tractor-trailer exploded, which killed McDougal and injured three first responders, the suit says.
"(T)he explosion left a large crater in U.S. 278 and even registered on the Arkansas Geological Survey's system that is used to track earthquakes," the suit says.
Plaintiffs Irigene Howell and Maxine Bryant say their home 300 feet away suffered significant damage.
"Randall McDougal breached his duty owed to the plaintiffs through his negligent acts and/or omissions that caused the explosion," the suit says.
The plaintiffs are represented by Jacob Potter of Potter & Marks in Texarkana.