Golf course sued over property damage from California wildfire

By Marty Graham SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - About a dozen Southern California residents whose property or possessions were destroyed in a wildfire earlier this year have sued a neighboring golf course they blame for triggering the blaze through the neglect of fire hazards at the resort. The so-called Poinsettia blaze, which erupted on May 14, blackened 400 acres in and around the coastal town of Carlsbad, north of San Diego, leaving 18 condominiums, five houses and two commercial buildings in ruins. Days after the fire started, the charred body of a man was found at a homeless encampment overrun by flames. Although investigators never determined the exact cause of the blaze, they traced the fire's origin to the seventh-hole fairway at the northwestern corner of the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa. The flames then spread rapidly into adjacent communities, driven by strong winds that stoked several large fires in San Diego County that month. According to the lawsuit filed on Tuesday in San Diego Superior Court, the resort neglected to take prudent measures to curtail fire hazards on its property in the midst of an intense heat wave, extremely low humidity and high winds that preceded the blaze. In particular, the lawsuit accused the resort of failing to exercise proper safety in operating maintenance machinery and golf carts, failed to train employees to watch out for sparks and fire on the property and lacked plans for avoiding or dealing with such fires. Attorney Richard Moreno, who represents the Omni La Costa, did not immediately return a call seeking comment on Wednesday. The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages for lost homes, possessions, mental anguish, business losses, the costs of temporary housing while they were displaced and personal injuries, which were not detailed in the complaint. (Editing by Steve Gorman and Peter Cooney)