Work party turns into nightmare after s’mores stand catches fire, and security footage captured the terrifying moment it all went wrong

Five people are suing the company that runs Chicago’s Offshore Rooftop after a fire at a s’mores station hurt several guests at a work party. The lawsuits name Maverick Hotels and Restaurants, LLC. The general manager of the venue, Laurent Boisdron, is also being sued. The people suing say the staff’s carelessness caused the whole thing.

According to People, the fire happened during a private work event for investment company Nuveen. Court papers filed in Cook County Circuit Court show that four people got burned, and all five people suing say the experience left them with serious emotional problems.

Security cameras at the restaurant caught the whole scary moment on video. The footage shows a group of people standing by the food station when flames suddenly shoot up. Several people can be seen running with their clothes on fire while others chase after them, hitting their bodies to try and stop the flames.

This shows why being careful at events really matters

According to the court documents, the fire started when a Maverick employee “poured a flammable accelerant onto an open flame, triggering a flashover” that sent flames shooting into the air and set several guests on fire.

One of the hurt guests is 25-year-old Kira Bond. According to the lawsuit, she “sustained severe burns to her face and body” and remains hospitalized in critical condition. Another person at the party, 44-year-old Lisa Segner, “suffered burns to her abdomen and legs.”

Peter Gianaris and Fernando Ramirez are two others who are suing. They got treated for burns that were not as bad. But they say watching their coworkers catch fire really messed them up. The court papers say they were “deeply traumatized after witnessing their colleagues on fire.” The fifth person suing is Philip Segner, who is Lisa’s husband. He “filed a claim for loss of consortium.”

This is not the first time something unexpected has put someone in the hospital. In most cases, negligence is the culprit.

The court papers say the people running the venue did not do their job properly, and that caused the fire. The five people suing want money for their injuries and the mental pain they went through.

Their lawyer, Timothy J. Cavanagh, explained how bad things are for his clients. “All the victims have been deeply traumatized, both by being set on fire themselves and by witnessing their coworkers engulfed in flames,” he said. “The emotional and psychological impact of this incident remains profound and its duration unknown.”

Cavanagh also talked about what is happening with their medical care. He said “all the plaintiffs who sustained physical injuries have been released from the hospital and will continue to follow up with their doctors.”

But he added that “Kira Bond will require more intensive outpatient treatment and therapies to treat her burn injuries.”