Fort Bend Co. couple says landlord blamed them for fire that investigators ruled wasn't their fault

FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- A northeast Fort Bend County couple said their landlord blames them for a fire that investigators ruled wasn't their fault.

The fire happened a day after Hurricane Beryl made landfall at The Terraces at Arboretum on Old Richmond Road while Troy and Erica Barnett were out with their 14-year-old son.

Firefighters quickly determined the fire began with the stove, which the couple said prompted an accusation from apartment property managers.

"Her words were, 'Well, you must have left one of the burners on or something,'" Troy Barnett said.

However, a Fort Bend County Fire Marshal's report that Eyewitness News obtained said that the stove burner controls were all in the off position.

The report concluded that the fire was caused by an electrical malfunction in the stove sparked by a power surge when electricity was restored.

Yet, the Barnetts say that didn't stop the apartment complex from filing a claim with their renters' insurance company. Eyewitness News reviewed a letter from the insurance company denying the claim.

"There's no way the landlord can point to the negligence of the tenant," Ernie Garcia, an attorney Eyewitness News consulted about the situation, said. "The tenant didn't hook it up. The tenant didn't manufacture the product."

Just three days after the first fire, the Northeast Fort Bend County Fire Department confirmed there was a second fire in the same apartment unit.

They say they lost what they didn't lose in the first fire in the second, including Erica Barnett's late grandmother's prized hat collection.

"This didn't even have to happen. There was an opportunity to kind of try to salvage and rebuild," Erica Barnett said.

The Barnetts are putting the value of their loss at $53,000 but said their renters' insurance policy will only cover a fraction of that.

They're asking the apartment complex to pay the difference, which Garcia said they're not obligated to do under Texas law.

"I just want restitution. I want them to restore it. I want them to make it whole," Troy Barnett said.

When Eyewitness News called the apartment leasing office, it went to voicemail.

ABC13 also emailed Atlantic Pacific Companies, which manages the complex, but has yet to get a response.

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