Marco Polo High-Rise Fire: Wrongful-Death Settlement for Four Victims' Families

On July 14, 2017, a fire ignited on the 26th floor of the Marco Polo Apartments at 2333 Kapiolani Boulevard in Honolulu. The 568-unit building, constructed in 1971, had no sprinkler system. What started in unit 2602 became a seven-alarm fire that took more than 130 firefighters over four hours to contain. The blaze destroyed approximately 30 units concentrated on floors 26 through 28 and caused an estimated $107 million in damage, making it the most costly fire in Hawaii history.

Four residents died. Britt Reller, 54, and Jean Dilley, 87, were killed in the fire itself. Joann M. Kuwata, 71, also died that day. Marilyn Van Gieson, 81, survived the initial blaze but died on August 3, 2017, from complications. Investigators ultimately listed the cause as undetermined because damage to the unit of origin was too extensive to establish a definitive ignition source.

In July 2018, Leavitt, Yamane & Soldner filed suit on behalf of the victims' estates and injured claimants, joining forces with Revere & Associates and Davis Levin Livingston. The defendants included the building's property management companies, the Association of Apartment Owners of Marco Polo Apartments, and Ohana Control Systems. The complaints alleged that defendants failed to install sprinklers, maintain working fire alarms and emergency lighting, prevent propped-open fire doors from spreading smoke, and bring the building's fire-safety systems up to city code requirements. Approximately two dozen lawsuits stemming from the fire were eventually consolidated before Circuit Judge Dean Ochiai.

After mediation, a global settlement was reached. On November 5, 2019, the parties placed the terms on the record in open court. The financial terms were sealed, though one plaintiff had referenced a figure of approximately $26 million in payouts from insurers and the condo association. Judge Ochiai ordered disbursements from an escrow account to be completed by January 15, 2020. Former state Attorney General David Louie represented the defense.

The settlement resolved all wrongful-death and injury claims arising from the fire. Hawaii legislators subsequently passed a law requiring sprinkler retrofits in high-rise buildings lacking them, a direct legislative response to the Marco Polo tragedy.