Boise Airport building’s roof came off twice in a week, worker’s tort claim says
An airline worker filed a tort claim against the city of Boise, alleging that the roof of an airport building on Apollo Street “blew off for the second time in 1 week,” hitting the worker’s car in the parking lot.
Liam Owen, of Boise, who worked as an aircraft mechanic for Horizon Airlines, documented the date of the incident as May 28, when high winds swept through the Treasure Valley, fanning the flames of fires, swatting down trees and power lines, and causing tens of thousands to lose power.
The tort claim did not indicate a monetary amount for damages that Owen intended to seek.
The May 28 incident happened after a similar one a few days before, the claim says, when the Boise Fire Department responded on May 25 to an airport warehouse on Apollo Street because part of the roof came off. KTVB reported on that incident.
Airport spokesperson Jennifer Kronberg did not answer questions from the Idaho Statesman about the building’s current status or what happened. “We can’t comment on matters involving pending tort claims,” Kronberg wrote in an email.
Tort claims are civil claims made against a state or local government for a wrongful or negligent act. Under Idaho law, a tort claim must be filed with that government to allow it an opportunity to respond before being sued. However, not all plaintiffs follow up unanswered claims by suing.
Alaska Airlines, which is owned by the same holding company as Horizon, did not return an email seeking comment. The Seattle-based airline offers flights to several destinations and is Boise’s dominant carrier, according to previous Statesman reporting.
