Branch Inn suit claims expand: More parties have joined what is now a wrongful death, negligence suit. [The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo.]

Apr. 22--A lawsuit filed against the city of Pueblo and Xcel Energy by an insurance company representing the Branch Inn has been folded into a larger, wrongful death suit against the two parties.

The Nov. 13, 2008, explosion at the Branch Inn leveled the restaurant and its neighbor, A Classic Boutique.

Ashley Johnson and Jennifer Flower both were working in the boutique at the time of the blast. Johnson was killed and Flower was severely injured.

The lawsuit claims a faulty pressure coupling on an Xcel pipeline caused natural gas to leak, migrate through the soil and collect in the Branch Inn's basement until it ignited.

The suit claims the coupling was installed in 1968 and had not been inspected or replaced since.

Johnson's mother Connie DeWeese is named as a plaintiff in the wrongful death claim. The suit also has a number of other claims, including negligence, and a number of other plaintiffs attached to the suit.

In addition to DeWeese, Johnson and A Classic Boutique LLC, James and Joseph Koncilja and the Charter Oak Fire Insurance Company are parties in the suit.

The Konciljas owned the A Classic Boutique building as well as another storefront destroyed in the blast.

Charter Oak was their insurer.

The Travelers Indemnity Company of America is also a party to the suit, representing Seabels, which also suffered extensive damage from the blast and was closed for weeks.

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